Poverty may no longer be a stumbling block for gifted
Filipinos to join the Philippine Air Force (PAF), as a bill filed by Sen.
Panfilo M. Lacson seeks to establish a PAF Academy (PAFA).
Lacson said the PAFA will fulfill the constitutional mandate
of guaranteeing equal access of opportunity for public service, while
professionalizing other career areas of the PAF such as aircraft maintenance,
avionics and air logistics.
“The PAF Academy as conceptualized, is geared towards making
available an adequate and dedicated corps of professional Air Force officers
with the proper education, training and orientation to lead and manage the
complex technologies inherent in the field of aviation,” he said in Senate Bill
259.
He noted there are highly specialized career fields in the
PAF that could not be provided adequately by a traditional military academy
such as the Philippine Military Academy.
Also, Lacson noted the PAF Flying Schools (PAFFS), presently
the main source of regular PAF officers, could no longer provide the required
number and proper training of officer pilots due to inadequate facilities and
logistical support. It also requires a college degree, keeping poor Filipinos
from serving in the PAF.
Lacson also stressed the need to prevent an unwanted
relationship among officers often called "regular officer
homogeneity," which may lead to a potentially explosive political
situation.
Under the bill, the PAFA shall be organized and administered
by the PAF Commanding General, and be placed under the general supervision and
control of the Armed Forces of the Philippines
Cadets shall be appointed by the President. To be eligible
for admission, a candidate cadet must be single, a natural born citizen of the
Philippines, between 17 and 22 on April 1 of the year of admission, and at
least a high school graduate.<>The candidate must also have passed the
prescribed physical and mental examination and the National Secondary
Assessment Test.
Cadets’ pay and allowances shall be fixed by the President.
They shall sign an agreement to complete the course of instruction at the
Academy; and accept an appointment and serve as a commissioned officer of the
Armed Forces of the Philippines
A cadet who is found physically and mentally unfit for
military assignment due to injury or disease incident to the service, shall be
retired with the rank of second lieutenant of the AFP.
Meanwhile, the bill also mandates rules preventing hazing,
including punishments for violations such as dismissal and suspension.
Cadets dismissed from the PAFA for hazing shall not be
reappointed as an Air Force Cadet and shall be ineligible for appointment as a
commissioned officer in the AFP unit after two years from the graduation of the
class.
http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=913614
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