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[av_heading heading=’FARMER’S SON TOP PMA GRAD’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=’30’ subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’18’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=” av-medium-font-size-title=” av-small-font-size-title=” av-mini-font-size-title=” av-medium-font-size=” av-small-font-size=” av-mini-font-size=” admin_preview_bg=”]
BY PRINCE GOLEZ and IME SORNITO
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Thursday, March 15, 2018
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ILOILO City – A son of a farmer from Barangay Balabag, Pavia, Iloilo is this year’s valedictorian of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA).
The 25-year-old Cadet First Class Jaywardene Galilea Hontoria, already a registered nurse when he entered the country’s premier military school, will graduate this March 18 at Fort del Pilar in Baguio City.
Hontoria’s proud parents Oscar, 53, and Nancy, 51, are attending their son’s graduation.
“He’s not only our pride. He is Pavia’s and Iloilo’s pride, too,” Oscar told Panay News.
Hontoria graduated from West Visayas State University in La Paz, Iloilo City in 2013 and served the Philippine Coast Guard briefly before entering the PMA in 2014.
“It’s really his dream to be a soldier,” said Oscar, but Hontoria was persuaded by an aunt, a nurse working in the United States, to take Bachelor of Science in Nursing and the obedient nephew relented.
It was the aunt, Corazon Demaala, who helped send Hontoria to college.
After graduation, he passed the nursing licensure exam.
“But he really wanted to join the Armed Forces so he told us that after he had fulfilled his aunt’s wish for him, he would like to pursue his own dream,” said Oscar.
His parents said they were not surprised that their son graduated at the top of his 282-strong PMA Alab-Tala (Alagad ng Lahing Binigkis ng Tapang at Lakas) Class 2018.
Hontoria was his class valedictorian at Balabag Elementary School (2005) and Colegio de San Jose where he took his secondary education (2009), said Oscar.
“He is a zealous student and he works hard to achieve his goals. He is a good son,” said Oscar.
This Sunday, Hontoria will receive the Presidential Saber and Chief of Staff Saber as valedictorian.
He will also be bestowed with the following: Philippine Navy Saber, Academic Group Award, Australian Defence Best Overall Performance Award, Spanish Armed Forces Award, Humanities Plaque, Natural Sciences Plaque, Social Sciences Plaque, Jusmag Award, and Department of Leadership Award.
“I knew my son would do well in the PMA. He would tell us during school breaks when they would be permitted to go home that he was often in the dean’s list or that he topped this or that training or exam,” said Oscar.
After graduation from PMA, Hontoria would be joining either the Philippine Navy or Philippine Marines.
On Sunday, said Oscar, his son would also be the first in his batch to marry.
Right after graduation, Hontoria would wed at the St. Ignatius Chapel inside PMA his girlfriend Laura Fe Dellera, also a nurse in Iloilo.
The other top PMA graduates in Hontoria’s class are the following:
* Ricardo Liwaden from Gawana, Barlig, Mt. Province (salutatorian)
* Jun-Jay Malazzab Castro from Amulung, Cagayan
* Leonore Andrea Carino Japitan from Butuan City
* Mark Jantzen Dacillo from Zamboanga City
* Jezaira Buenaventura from Negros Oriental
* Jessie Antonio Laramang from Tarlac
* Paolo Balla Briones from Camp Allen, Baguio City
* Jayson Raymundo Cimatu from Casiguran, Aurora
* Micah Quiambai Reynaldo from Bamban, Tarlac./PN
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