Former AFP spokesman named PMA superintendent

FORT DEL PILAR, Baguio City — Brig. Gen. Edilberto Adan formally took over on Thursday afternoon as superintendent of the state-run Philippine Military Academy (PMA), replacing Maj. Gen. Rufo de Veyra.

Adan, 53, a member of PMA Class ’72, welcomed his new assignment and vowed "not to fail" his alma mater that has produced most of today’s ranking military and police officers, as well as top government officials who have retired from the military service.

"The (PMA) shall not fail its stakeholders: the Filipino laborer, the Filipino peasant, the Filipino executive, the Filipino Muslim, the Filipino Christian and the Filipino mother and father aiming for a brighter future for their children," Adan said.

He promised to continue inculcating in the hearts of PMA cadets the "basic human truths and time-honored values which will serve as the touchstones of their judgment. These are fidelity to the nation, the concern for justice, the quest for truth and adherence to the mission."

"We shall continue to remind them (cadets) that logic and reason precedes brute force or violence,," he said.

This year’s new entrants who will comprise Class 2006 consisted of 445 cadets..

Adan, former spokesman for the Armed Forces of the Philippines, became the school’s 49th PMA superintendent.

He said he never had any inkling that he would be appointed as PMA superintendent, adding that he was eyeing instead a field assignment following his stint as chief of the AFP’s Civil Relations Group (CRG).

"This welcome development, however, rounds off 30 colorful years of combat, psychological operations, civil military operations, training and education assignments."

"The times are auspicious," Adan noted.

He also said the challenges, both overseas and at the home front, were complex and varied, while the security issues were profound.