THE 1939 STORY 

          The year 1939 is the only year since the Academy was created that had no graduating class during its March Week. The absence of a Class of 1939 generated a custom that Peemayers that whoever dishonors the name of the Academy are cast to oblivion as members of Class 1939.

          With the entrance of 120 new plebes on June 16, 1936, the new curriculum as prescribed by the National Defense Act was implemented, thereby making them compose the Class of 1940 instead of 1939.

          Because of the transition period, no class graduated during that year. However, the cadets still held a "Fiesta" during March Week. There were only three Classes - Class of 1940 at the helm, the Class of 1941, and the Class of 1942 as plebes. The March Week Festivities was held at Polo Fields in Pacdal. An account of the pre-war PMA will not be complete without some mention of the academic tyranny that cadets of those days experienced particularly during the school years before 1939-1940. During this period, some members of the Academic Faculty injected terror and fear in the minds of the cadets. The daily assignment s in the different academic subjects bordered on cruelty. Talks of  "academic sadism" abounded. Instructor seems to take great pleasure with the red ink and the eventual dismissal of cadets for "academic deficiency." Because of this existing attitude, many honor students failed to maintain their grades. A cadet could be dismissed for a minor deficiency in a "not-so-important subject", regardless of his standing in Physics or Mathematics. This led to the loss of many promising young men. Later, these same dismissed cadets did very well in other universities and were successful in their professions. Before school year 1939-1940 came, difficult examinations were given to cadets with the deliberate purpose of making them fail. The validity and reliability of the examinations were not taken into consideration. In Math and Engineering subjects, very difficult problems and eccentric questions were given. Question ranged from likely-to-be missed" footnotes to outside reading. Hidden facts abounded. Unimportant details and inconsequential matters were taken up in regular classroom work. Even starmen found the examinations grossly unfair.

          Literature, History, Languages,, International Politics, and Essay Writing-even music and Art appreciation, are of immense value in the training of true professional soldier. In view of the cadet's tight schedule, the teaching points need to move around the useful, the significant, the relevant.

          The Cadets were in favor of being given higher level academic load and of keeping the high academic standard but they were definitely against the academic sadism and the use of the classroom as a "revenge". The situation around Academic Hill continued to deteriorate in late 1938 and up to March 1939. The leaders of the Corps felt the need for a pre-emptive action, and in this regard, unity was to be achieved overnight from the level of the superstars to the supergoats. After all, to be a good Army officer, it was not really necessary to know if Elizabeth Barrett Browning had an children, or when Ralph Waldo Emerson graduated from Harvard, or how Napoleon made life miserable for Victor Hugo.

          For want of an official name, we may call the events that ensued as things came to a head atop Academic Hill as Forbes Park Cry of 1939 or as a novel expression of dissent -  The Academic Revolution of 1939. All in all, it was simply dubbed "SAME BANANA" - a phrase also deeply regarded as their battlecry. The objective was to put an end to the deliberate cruelty in the classroom. Their point was clear and simple that academics must not consistent with the Army's overall academic standards for officers and the same time given available for studying.

          The revolution started...the principal weapon and signal equipment was the ringing of the "five-peso" alarm clock. Silence was used a s the ultimate armament, with "No Sir" and blank examination papers in the classroom. The cadets moved to stay in one place according to pre-arranged signals. The operation moved like clockwork.

          The news from Baguio reached Manila like thunderbolt. Families and friends began to worry. The Army General Staff was stunned. A few staff officers at HPA suggested that the cadets be punished immediately. "All of them?" From Cadet Olbes to Cadet Osias to the last man in the rear ranks? How? Unthinkable. THE CORPS WAS UNITED."

          Others who were not friendly with the PMA wanted the academy closed for good. But the people's investment in the military institution was too big to just let go to waste. The Military Academy was fountainhead of the entire defense establishment with the country's independence scheduled in 1946, and the Armed Forces cannot progress as meaningfully without a similar military academy. As thorough discussions were done from the Office of President Quezon down to the Army General Staff, the cadets humbly waited. Finally the Cadet Corps was able to make their point. Their cause was found to be valid. No cadet was punished and academic reforms were instituted immediately. HEADQUARTERS PHILIPPINE ARMY saved the day for PMA in March 1939.

          Today, the PMA greatly owes a debt of gratitude to the Classes of 1940, 1941, and 1942 for steadfastly fighting for their cause which through the years has evolved into one of the best, yet most considerable kind of education and training the cadets are now enjoying.