PH Ambassador to Japan Administers Oath of Office of National Defense Academy Filipino Graduates

Philippine Ambassador to Japan Jose C. Laurel V (left) administers the oath of office of Charmaine Arcillas Lim (cenrter) and Aljan Osorio Esmeria (right) as Second Lieutenants of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Both are graduates of the prestigious National Defense Academy of Japan. (Tokyo PE photo)

TOKYO 26 March 2020 – Philippine Ambassador to Japan Jose C. Laurel V administered the oath-taking ceremony and donning of ranks of second lieutenants to Aljan Osorio Esmeria and Charmaine Arcillas Lim, new graduates of the prestigious National Defense Academy (NDA) of Japan, at the Philippine Embassy in Tokyo on 23 March 2020. 

The two were among the 20 foreign cadets of the 437 graduates of NDA in a ceremony held and attended by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan on 22 March 2020. The graduation ceremony was scaled down in consideration of the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.  Families of the graduates and other guests were not invited and only 18 graduates were handed diplomas during the ceremony which was broadcast live online for the first time.

The ceremony at the Embassy was witnessed by Defense and Armed Forces Attaché (DAFA) Colonel Gleen Albert C. Laguardia, Administrative Assistant to DAFA Msg Alejandro T. Santos II, and eight other Filipino undergraduate cadet scholars of NDA. Also in attendance were Mr. Yukio and Ms. Yukari Natou, Japanese foster parents of Second Lieutenant Esmeria.

Second Lieutenant Lim received the Outstanding International Cadet Award on her graduation.  Prior to her admission into the Philippine Military Academy (PMA), she finished a computer course at Technical Educations and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) and was an undergraduate engineering student (fourth year) at Western Mindanao State University in Zamboanga City.  She is the eldest among the three children of a retiree and a housewife.

Second Lieutenant Esmeria was also an undergraduate engineering student (second year) at the Technological University of the Philippines in Taguig City before his admission into the PMA. He is the fifth child among the eight children of a retired enlisted military officer and a housewife.

Both Second Lieutenant Lim and Esmeria will join the Philippine Air Force upon their return to the Philippines.  The two were admitted into the PMA in 2014 and were sent to NDA as cadet scholars the following year.

Since 1996, the Japanese Government has offered full scholarship to PMA cadets to study at NDA under its international exchange program. The scholarship covers a 5-year program that includes a one year Nihonggo language course and four-year undergraduate courses in science and engineering. The NDA is the premier military academy of Japan established in 1952. 

In his speech, Ambassador Laurel noted that his father, who also served as the Philippine Ambassador to Japan from 1966 to 1971, is a graduate of the same Japanese military academy in 1937.  He was known as the first Filipino samurai until his death. “You had the great opportunity of learning Japanese culture over the years. Upon your return to the Philippines, bring with you the Japanese culture of discipline in your career and private life”, Ambassador Laurel told the graduates and the cadets. END

Philippine Ambassador to Japan Jose C. Laurel V (sixth from left) and Defense and Armed Forces Attaché Colonel Gleen Albert C. Laguardia (fifth from left), together with the two newly graduates (in white duck) and eight Filipino cadet scholars (in dress blue) of the National Defense Academy of Japan. (Tokyo PE photo)

For more information, visit https://www.tokyo.philembassy.net or https://www.tokyope.dfa.gov.ph, or https://www.facebook.com/PHLinJapan/.