ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, March 17, 1997 TAG: 9703170127
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: BAGUIO, PHILIPPINES
SOURCE: DAVID THURBER ASSOCIATED PRESS
Their inspiration came from the first women to enter West Point 20 years ago.
Inspired by the women of the U.S. Military Academy, Leah Lorenzo stuck it out - even after she fainted during training.
Her endurance paid off. Lorenzo graduated Sunday from the Philippine Military Academy, part of the academy's first class in its 92-year history to include women.
By most accounts, the Philippines' experiment with women cadets was a success: Of seven women in a class of 136, three graduated in the Top 10.
``Philippine women have shown they are just as good as the men,'' President Fidel Ramos said at the ceremonies.
Women won the right to enter the academy under a 1992 law that says they should be full partners of men in nation-building and development. As a result, the PMA became one of the few military academies in Asia to accept women.
Initially, the women say, they experienced strong resistance from male colleagues who thought women didn't belong in the military.
``It's been a learning process for both us and our male counterparts,'' said Lorenzo, who was third in her class. ``Now, they're very supportive, or else we wouldn't be able to finish.''
While military colleges in the United States have faced instances of women cadets being hazed, none of the Filipino women who graduated Sunday said she was sexually harassed or trained differently from male cadets.
``If you call being forced to do exercises and being yelled at `hazing,' then yes, we were hazed. But it's the responsibility of the upperclassmen to train us,'' cadet Arlene Orejana said.
Lined up on a training ground for an interview, the seven women alternated military posture-perfect ``Yes, sirs'' with giggles, occasionally pinching each other's noses in friendship.
The women say they were inspired during their four years by accounts of the first women who entered West Point 20 years ago.
They also have followed the struggles of women at The Citadel, where two out of four female cadets enrolled there left after hazing that included having their clothes set on fire.
``They really have a hard time because there are so few women,'' cadet Victoria Blancaflor said of the women at the private, South Carolina school, which started accepting female students in June after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling.
But some say the Filipino cadets' battle for equality has just begun, because of still-limited opportunities for women in the armed forces. Lorenzo plans to enter the infantry - and already is disappointed that she may be restricted from combat duty.
Officials say the non-combat rule for women stems from a lack of separate facilities for women in the field, but critics call that an excuse to maintain the status quo.
Leticia Shahani, a leading female senator, says the Philippines eagerly admitted women into the military academy but failed to consider how to incorporate them into the military hierarchy after graduation.
Sunday's graduates agree their challenge has just started.
``We've just graduated,'' said Consuelo Nunag, who plans to be a helicopter pilot. ``We still have to prove ourselves.''
LENGTH: Medium: 68 linesby CNB