PAGADIAN CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Dec. 15, 2013) – Some 138 candidate soldiers finished Sunday the Jungle Warfare Mountaineering Operation Course at an army base in the southern Philippine province of Zamboanga del Sur, officials said.
Officials said candidate soldier Rodel Babao, of Isabela City in Basilan province, topped the course and was followed by Richard Aninion and Nover Rillera, both from Molave town in Zamboanga del Sur province.
Captain Jefferson Somera, a spokesman for the 1st Infantry Division, said the class which opened in June originally had 144 candidate soldiers and only 138 graduated the rigors of military trainings and discipline.
He said among the 138 candidate soldiers, 42 of them were college graduate, 62 college level and 28 finished vocational courses. He added that 25 were high school graduates, but proved to be deserving candidates as they possessed the skills required to qualify for enlistment.
Brigadier General Felicito Virgilio Trinidad, Jr, the division commander, praised the soldiers. “You are the new breed of the Philippine Army under the Army Transformation Road Map. We are expecting from you as your parents and relatives do, to perform your duty to the best of your ability. You are now a soldier of the people, serve them well,” he said. (Mindanao Examiner)
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