Dabawenya earns gold award in West Point

DAVAO CITY - Dabawenya Christy Isis Achanzar has earned the Superintendent's Award for Achievement at the US Military Academy in West Point, New York, USA, a Sun.Star report said Thursday. The award is presented to the top 20 percent of cadets who excel in academic, military, and physical programs. The insignia is a gold wreath. Christy, daughter of Ermine and Asuncion Chanzar, is a 1998 graduate of the Davao City National High School. Achanzar came home to visit her family at San Raphael Village in Ma-a last year after her special training on ground assault in Korea where they were able to experience the De-militarized Zone (DMZ) as exposure. She opted to choose Korea rather than Germany because it is closer to the Philippines. During her visit last June, family and community members of God the Father of All Mankind Devotees in Davao City were touched with the short message she gave during the thanksgiving mass celebrated by Fr. Jhun Acedo. "We are celebrating not because I am here, but it is because the family would like to thank the Lord, our God and Father for this great opportunity. This thanksgiving mass is celebrated also because of all of you, because of your prayers offered for my sake, that even if I do not know you, and you do not know me that well, you my brothers and sisters, together with the prayers of my family and friends have indeed given me the courage and strength to persevere and to reach this stage of my career," she was quoted as saying. Achanzar is expected to graduate from the US Military Academy on May 31. "Please mark your calendars. If there are guests that I love most to see, it is you my family. I want to see all of you to witness the fruits of all my sacrifices. You and my country are the very reason why I have not settle to just be a mere mediocre cadet, my thoughts of you pushed me to strive hard and to sacrifice so that you might somehow be proud of me," she said. Achanzar is a BS Electronics in Communication Engineering (ECE) graduate of the University of the Immaculate Conception. She passed the qualifying exam given by the Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA) and Philippine Military Academy (PMA). She passed the exam for Usma and finally joined the ranks in June 2004. - Sun.Star