Ambassador Garcia-Albano Leads the Donning of Ranks and Administers the Oath of Office of New 2nd Lieutenants of the Philippine Air Force
Tokyo, 27 March 2023 – H.E. Mylene Garcia-Albano, Philippine Ambassador to Japan, led the donning of ranks on and administered the oath of office of 2nd Lieutenants (2LTs) Manuel D. Dumaya and Angelou R. Gayla as new Junior Officers of the Philippine Air Force (PAF), held at the Philippine Embassy. The ceremony was attended by Defense and Armed Forces Attache (DAFA) to Japan Colonel Randy Espino PA (GSC), TSg Ariel Gregorio PA, Administrative Assistant to DAFA, and witnessed by foster family members Mr Satoru John Itoga and Ms. Kaye Itoga.
2LTs Dumaya and Gayla were part of the 21 foreign graduates among the 467 fresh graduates from National Defense Academy (NDA) of Japan in ceremonies held on 26 March 2023 and attended by Japan Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. The NDA is the premier military academy of Japan which was established in 1952.
The Japanese government grants full scholarship to two (2) PMA cadets to study at NDA yearly since 1996. The scholarship program includes one year Nihongo language course and four years of undergraduate courses in science and engineering. Both 2LTs Dumaya and Gayla Orense were admitted into the PMA in 2017 and sent to NDA as cadet scholars in 2018. Prior to their admission to the PMA both 2LTs Dumaya and Gayla were students from Taguig City University and Nueva Ecija University of Science and Technology, respectively.
