Of the 310 newly minted graduates of the 2023 Class of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA), 77 of

them will join the Navy. And of the total of 35 female PMA graduates this year, 18 or more than half of
them have opted to become naval officers. They will beef up the 25,000-strong men and women of the
Navy.

The Navy has more than 2,000 women officers on board and a number of them are skippers of our naval
assets deployed nationwide, including those in the disputed maritime territorial waters in the West
Philippine Sea. Aside from the daily patrols over the contested maritime boundaries, our Navy joins
forces with our Coast Guard for safety at sea, the PNP Maritime Group for crimes in the high seas while
the ships of the Bureau of Fishery and Aquatic Resources keep watch on our fishing grounds.

The Navy is currently headed by Vice Admiral Toribio Adaci Jr., a member of the PMA Class 1989, as the
flag-officer-in command (FOIC). President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. (PBBM) picked Adaci as Navy
FOIC in November last year. But the Commission on Appointments temporarily suspended confirmation
of promotions of officers in the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), including that of Adaci until the
19th Congress finally passed into law the amendment to Republic Act (RA) 11709 that fixed a three-year
tour of duty for the AFP chief and other top military officials