MANILA, Philippines – It was a farewell beating. 

About 6 Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA) graduates ended their cadetship with a mauling from no less than their own underclassmen, PNPA Director Chief Superintendent Joseph Adnol disclosed on Sunday, March 26. 

The victims, belonging to the PNPA Maragtas Class of 2018 had contusions and open wounds from the beating, said Adnol. 

The PNPA director added that the aggressors – a year below the victims – are set to graduate in 2019. 

How did it happen? The PNPA graduation was held on Wednesday noon, March 21, ending with graduates marching alongside their parents. 

“[The suspects] waited for [the target cadets and their parents] to separate. [The attackers] waited near the barracks,” Adnol said in a phone interview with reporters on Sunday. 

The fresh graduates were packing up their belongings when the assailants struck, beating them with “paddles” and “stones.”

Officials were not able to hear or spot the incident as they were busy wrapping up the program, Adnol said. 

What’s the motive? According to Adnol, the cadet underlings held personal grudges against their upperclassmen.

While inside the academy, cadets from lower batches submit themselves to the authority of those above them. Juniors typically abide by housekeeping rules set by their superiors, and are punished when they commit mistakes. 

The investigation: According to Adnol, the PNPA has formed a special investigating team to look into the incident. 

There are no CCTV cameras inside the barracks so probers would have to rely heavily on witness accounts and testimonies from the victims themselves.

Adnol called the scandal an “isolated incident” in the academy that brands itself as the premier police school in the Philippines. – Rappler.com