Kidapawan folk honored with PMA cadet's feat

KIDAPAWAN CITY -- The local communities are euphoric over reports that someone from here ranked fifth from among the top 10 graduates this year of the Philippine Military Academy.

The consistent honor cadet Aldren Maambong Altamero, 24, hails from Barangay Balabag here.

Local residents learned of Altamero’s feat from a report on Wednesday morning by the popular Catholic station dxND here.

In a statement, the office of Kidapawan City Mayor Joseph Evangelista said Altamero is known for his intelligence and good character in their barangay since his childhood.

He was raised since he was an elementary pupil by an uncle, Rodolfo Ondoy, following the death of his father, Sofrino, that forced his mother, Anita, to work abroad to sustain his elementary and secondary schooling, according to the Kidapawan City government.

Neighbors said so generous is Altamero that he regularly allocated an amount from his monthly stipend from the PMA for the periodic dialysis of Ondoy, who has a kidney disease.

Station dxND, one of the five broadcast outfits in central Mindanao of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate congregation, reported Wednesday that Altamero shall join the Air Force after his graduation on May 26.

North Cotabato governor-elect Nancy Catamco said Wednesday Altamero gave Kidapawan City and all 17 towns in the province honor by ranking fifth from among this year’s top PMA graduates.

Kidapawan City, covering more than 40 barangays, is the capital of North Cotabato province.

Catamco, an outgoing congresswoman, said the province was just as honored when six Army personnel, two of them officers, from different towns in the province died in line of duty during the May 23 to October 16, 2017 siege of Marawi City by combined Maute and Abu Sayyaf terrorists.

Catamco, to assume as provincial governor on June 30, said her administration shall partly focus on programs meant to inculcate patriotism and love for public service among North Cotabato’s youth sector.