OFFICIALS of the Police Cavalier Association, Inc. (PCAI) and the Philippine National Police Alumni Association, Inc. (PNPAAAI) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding aimed at further strengthening the collaboration between police officers from the Philippine Military Academy and the PNP Academy.

The signing of the MOU was done ahead of an opposition aired by the PNPAAI to a Senate Bill that will allow active members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines to join the police force through Lateral Entry into the Police Mobile Forces claiming it would be ‘unconstitutional.’

Filed by former PNP chief-turned Senator Ronald ‘Bato’ M. dela Rosa of PMA Class 1986, Senate Bill No. 2449 has met strong opposition from PNPA members products and members of (APOLE) or the Association of Police Officers Via Lateral Entry, citing it as ‘unconstitutional.’

Last October 7, the PNPAAAIm headed by Gilberto DC Cruz, and the PCAI, chaired by PNP Deputy Chief for Administration, Lieutenant Gen. Rhodel O. Sermonia, signed the MOU to strengthen collaboration at Wack-Wack Golf and Country Club in Mandaluyong City.

The signing of the MOU was described by the PCAI as ‘another milestone’ between the two institutions on national security and law enforcement.

The event was attended by senior and junior ‘Lakans’ led by Cruz and ‘Cavaliers,’ led by PNP chief General Benjamin C. Acorda Jr. and his Command Group and the PNP Council of Elders chaired by retired General Renato S. de Villa.

Officials said that MOU will “serve as a framework for stronger cooperation and an agreement to work hand-in-hand, sharing knowledge, resources, and expertise in leading the PNP, upholding the nation’s interest.’

Journal Group sources said the MOU was the product of a Technical Working Group composed of the most senior members of PNPA led by Cruz and retired Police Director Danilo Abarzosa and retired Chief Superintendent Pedro Bulaong, both of PNPA Class 1980, and retired PMA Generals Vidal Querol, Raul Gonzales and George Piano.

The MOU was a ‘brainchild’ of retired Gen. Edgar Aglipay, the current president of the Council of Elders or the association of former PNP chiefs.

PCAI members or ‘Cavaliers’ are graduates of PMA who were commissioned as officers in the defunct Philippine Constabulary/Integrated National Police but were later absorbed in the PNP in view of the passage of Republic Act 6975 which created the national police force in 1991.

PNPAAAI members are ‘Lakans’ or graduates of the PNPA based in Silang, Cavite who graduated from the Academy from 1980 to 2023.

On the other hand, there are only 29 remaining PMA graduates in the PNP although the number is set to be further reduced with the forthcoming retirement of Gen. Acorda and Lt. Gen. Sermonia.

The MOU saw the PCAI congratulating the ‘Lakans’ who will eventually assume positions of major responsibility in the PNP with the retirement of the last Cavaliers led by National Capital Region Police Office director, Major Gen. Jose Melencio C. Nartatez Jr. in March 2027.

However, officials said that apart from the Lakans, there are also a number of outstanding PNP officers from the Association of Police Officers Via Lateral Entry (APOLE).

The Cavaliers also committed to support the PNPAAAI in matters not limited to the conduct of joint operations with the AFP on anti-insurgency and other national security-related concerns.

The MOU also underscored the need for the two groups to “collaborate on training and development initiatives, including the exchange of expertise and knowledge-sharing between the PNP and AFP in areas such as leadership, counter-insurgency, crisis management, and community engagement, to enhance the capabilities of both organizations.

All past 29 PNP chiefs and other PMA-bred generals have worked closely with PNPA graduates, some of them their counterparts or underlings.

Cruz, now the Executive Officer of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission, conveyed his gratitude for this long-standing partnership between PNPA and PMA.

According to him, the “event does not merely signify a transition of leadership but instead, it marks an important shift towards the assumption of significant responsibilities that every PNPA Graduate has been diligently trained and prepared for.”