Son of Cordillera is PMA topnotcher

By: Arthur L. Allad-iw, Northern Dispatch (special to InterAksyon.com)
March 10, 2015 2:29 PM

InterAksyon.com
The online news portal of TV5

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines -- An Igorot, son of a Kankanaey father and Ibaloi mother, is the topnotcher of the 171-strong Philippine Military Academy’s “Sinaglahi” Class of 2015.

Cadet First Class Arwi Chiday Martinez, who graduates cum laude, will receive the Presidential Saber and Philippine Army Saber, and is also the JUSMAG (Joint US Military Assistance Group) Awardee and Tactics Group Awardee.

The topnotcher CFC Martinez. Photo by Mau Victa

He will be joining the Philippine Army.

His father Darcio, a forester from Buguias, Benguet, said he and his wife, an Ibaloi from the Chiday clan of Loakan in this city, fully support their son’s decision and whatever plans he has for the future.
Martinez’s uncle, Jackson Chiday, the elder brother of his mother, was literally speechless when called for an interview.

When he got his voice back, Chiday said Arwi’s achievement is an honor not only for him and his family but for all Ibaloi and Igorots, the term used for the various ethnoliguistic groups of the Cordillera region.
“I” or “Y” means “from” and “golot” means mountain, thus the word literally means “people from the mountain.”

“I hope that he (Arwi) will serve as an inspiration for the ipusan (referring to Igorots who use g-strings) youth; for them to work hard in their studies and achieve their aspirations,” Chiday said.

A “thanksgiving ritual” will be performed by their clan after Arwi’s graduation, said Chiday, who is president of the Onjon ni Ivadoi, a union of Ibaloi residents in this city that spearheaded the celebration of Ibaloi Day on February 23.

HS teachers recall ‘intelligent’ yet ‘humble’ student

Faculty and students of the Baguio City National High School annex in Loakan also welcomed the news of their alumnus’ achievement.

Martinez graduate from the high school in 2010 as first honorable mention, with awards for excellence in science and math.

“He was intelligent yet humble,” his math teacher Mary Leah Duka Abad said in an interview.
She said they had encouraged him to take up engineering but he went into the PMA promising they would be proud of him someday. 

“He always updated us of his (PMA) scholastic standing. We expected him to be in the Top 5 but it is a bonus that he ended up first,” Abad said.

The Baguio City government also hailed Martinez’s achievement.

Martinez is one of two Cordillerans to land in the Top 10 of this year’s graduating PMA class. Cadet First Class Jan Klyde Danganan, from Irisan, is ranked No. 7.

The top ten with PMA officials. Photo by Mau Victa

The other top 10 graduates are:

• Genesis Dizon of Zamboanga City (2)
• John Paul Bacsain of Pili, Camarines Sur (3)
• Paolo Dominis Regis of Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro (4)
• Caroline Jhoy Nacional of Maitum, Sarangani, and the only female (5)
• John Denver Bambico of Naguilian, La Union (6)
• Steven Tali of Zamboanga City (8)
• Brian Villanueva of General Santos City (9)
• Regoric Fuentes of North Cotabato (10)

Sixteen of the graduates are women.

Ninety-two of them are joining the Army, 45 will be in the Navy, and 34 in the Air Force.