ALL SET. Philippine National Police Academy Cadets 3rd Class May Lord Sumalinog (left) and Jackie Bass (right) brief reporters in General Santos City on Friday afternoon regarding the preparations for its entrance examination or cadet admission test scheduled on Sunday, March 7. The Ramon Magsaysay Memorial College was designated as the examination center for the area. (PNA photo by Richelyn Gubalani)
GENERAL SANTOS CITY – Some 954 police commissioned officer aspirants from this city and the neighboring areas will take the entrance examination or cadet admission test of the Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA) here on Sunday, March 7.
Maj. Larry Gabion, PNPA assistant chief examiner for Region 12 (Soccsksargen), said the examinees comprise 687 male and 267 female applicants who have complied with the basic requirements to vie for slots at the prestigious police academy.
They will take the exam at the Ramon Magsaysay Memorial College (RMMC) here, the lone examination center set up in Region 12, which covers the provinces of South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani, North Cotabato, and the cities of General Santos, Koronadal, Tacurong, and Kidapawan.
Other applicants from the region are also allowed to take the exam at the designated center in Cotabato City, which is now under the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
Gabion said the entrance exam is the first step of the rigorous application process to the PNPA, which accepts at least 350 cadets every year.
In the entire country, he said around 26,000 applicants would be taking the exam on Sunday.
“We’re ready to conduct the exam and hoping that there will be more successful applicants from the region this year,” he said.
Cadet 3rd Class Jackie Bass, who hails from this city, assured that they have adopted the necessary measures to ensure the safety of the examinees in the wake of the continuing coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.
She said this includes the submission of medical certificates and the wearing of face masks and face shields by the applicants.
The designated examination center can also accommodate all the examinees while following the standard safe physical protocol under the “new normal,” she said.
“We will still accommodate walk-in applicants and allow them to undergo screening process onsite but their acceptance will depend on the availability of the test booklets,” she said.
Bass encouraged senior high school graduates, those in college-level and even new college graduates to consider becoming commissioned police officers.
She said her entry into the PNPA did not only realize a long-time dream but enabled her to help her family as well.
Successful candidates are entitled to a training allowance of PHP38,000 a month, which is equivalent to the salary of a Police Executive Master Sergeant, she said.
Bass said new graduates of PNPA are given the ranks of Lieutenant and may serve under the PNP, Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, and the Bureau of Fire Protection.
Several PNPA cadets from Region 12 graduated at the top of their classes in the past years, among them the 2015 class valedictorian Dennis Yuson Jr. of this city.
In 2017, Cadet 1st Class Macdum Darping Enca of Cotabato City, which is then part of Region 12, also emerged as class valedictorian. (PNA)
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