The morale of the cadets inside the Philippine Military Academy was affected by the hazing death of Cadet 4th Class Darwin Dormitorio, its spokesperson admitted yesterday.
However, life goes on for the cadets, especially for the first year students who are deemed most affected by the death of their batchmate, said Major Reynan Afan, PMA spokesperson.
“Tuloy pa rin po ang pagdadalamhati ng ating mga kadete ganun pa man tuloy pa rin po ang kanilang pag-aaral. Tuloy pa rin po ang normal activities ng ating cadet corps,” Anan said.
The PMA spokesperson said that despite the unfortunate incident, no cadet has expressed intention to quit from their training. “Wala pong nag-quit. In fact, they are more inspired because of this,” he said.
The incident will also not affect the recruitment in the country’s premier military training institution based in Baguio City as Anan maintained that what happened was an isolated case.
“Patuloy po ang pag-aalaga ng PMA sa kadete. Noong nangyari ito, naging bukas ang PMA sa lahat ng klaseng imbestigayon with proper authorities at wala po siyang itinago at cover-up na ginawa,” Anan stressed.
However, the family of Dormitorio slammed the PMA as they claimed the academy failed to inform them that he was hospitalized numerous times.
The hardships endured by Dormitorio were only bared through his personal diary that was retrieved by the police.
PMA management also came under fire after Capt. Flor Apostol, the physician who attended to Dormitorio on the night of Sept. 17 before his death, apparently made a mistake in her diagnosis on the victim.
Dormitorio was rushed to the PMA Station Hospital around 8 a.m. on Sept. 17 when he was beaten black and blue by two of his upperclassmen over pair of missing combat boots.
However, Apostol had allegedly ordered him to be sent back to barracks around 5 p.m. after he diagnosed him with Urinary Tract Infection. (Martin Sadongdong)
