Baguio Trip: Philippine Military Academy

There are a number of tourist destinations in Baguio City. Three days of stay would be enough to see – and, more importantly, enjoy – all of these tourist spots. There’s a difference between leisurely stroll and hurried sightseeing. So if you don’t have the luxury of time when you travel to Baguio, better prioritize certain places in Baguio. One of those spots, in my opinion, is the Philippine Military Academy (PMA).

The PMA is the training ground of the Philippine military’s corps of officers, just like the West Point in the United States (of course, not all officers of the military and the police come from the PMA). The school was established in 1905 in Intramuros, Manila, but was moved to Baguio City in 1908 (just curious, that also coincides with the centennial celebration of the University of the Philippines). The PMA compound in Baguio City is known as Fort General Gregorio H. del Pilar (also known as the “Hero of Tirad Pass,” Gen. del Pilar served in the Philippine force during the war of liberation against Spain and during the war with the United States of America).

The top honchos of both the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) come from the PMA. There are differences in function between the PNP and the AFP — the PNP is the one referred to in the Constitution as the “one police force, which shall be national in scope and civilian in character”). There’s an issue that the high-ranking officials of PNP should come from the Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA), not the PMA because of the difference in focus of these two institutions. However, this is an issue that I suppose should be left for some other blogs, not a travel blog like this. Besides, this is information overload.

There are a number of locations to stop for photo ops inside the PMA compound (website), clustered here based on whether you have to park your car at some parking area to go down.

One major stop in this school for officers (pun intended) is near the PMA Headquarters. There’s a parking lot before the portion of the road that is off-limit to vehicles. In this area you’ll see the Sun Dial and the relief map of the Philippines, located in front of the Headquarter building. Old aircrafts from the Philippine Air Force (PAF), like the Bell UH-1H all-purpose helicopter and the basic trainer Marchetti, are displayed here. There’s a PMA Museum, although I wasn’t able to go in because the souvenir stores at the back beacons. Just beside the parade grounds is the Tree House.

So, when you go to Baguio City, make sure to drop by PMA. You’ll be surprised that it’s a tourist-friendly place even if it’s a serious military establishment.