PMA superintendent, commandant of cadets resign

September 24, 2019

Following the death of Cadet Fourth Class Darwin Dormitorio due to alleged hazing, Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Superintendent Lt. Gen. Ronnie Evangelista and Brig. General Bartolome Bacarro, the Commandant of Cadets, announced their resignation on Tuesday.

“All the reports for the administrative and criminal cases are now finished and prosecution procedures has commenced, the last act that this great military institution demands is for the leadership to take responsibility over what happened,” Evangelista said.

“In the military tradition of 'Command Responsibility',  it is now the proper time for me as the head of this institution together with the Commandant of cadets (Commandant of Cadets Brig Gen. Bartolome Vicente Bacarro) to relinquish our respective positions. I have already tendered my resignation to the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. I will do all that is left to be done while I wait for the official orders,” he added.

Bacarro, a Medal of Valor awardee, said their resignation is not an admission of mistakes or shortcomings.

“For me is to save the organization that is why we resign. Whether you like it or not we are the commanders. Our resignation is not an admission that we have  mistakes or shortcomings," he said.

Evangelista said they completed the investigation before he resigned.

“PMA is the primary military leadership training institution of the AFP, with these; we have to shows the Filipino people what 'Command Responsibility' should be. I did not leave my post in the midst of crisis, I face the problem squarely and we have finished the investigation,” he said.

“As I resign my post, it is now up to the proper authority to decide on the finality of the case. That for me is the definition of command responsibility” he noted.

“All that is right, legal and moral must be learned, experienced and inculcated in every lesson, activity, interaction and relation in every cadet’s four-year journey in PMA,” he added.

“It is our hope and prayers that all our actions have been faithful to what this institution stands for: courage to seek and face the truth, integrity to defend what is right and loyalty to the honourable life that makes as worthy to be called PMAyers,” said Evangelista. Robina Asido/DMS