First of 2 parts

I WILL begin with a transparency declaration. I was a member of the University of the Philippines (Diliman) Corps of Cadets in the early to mid-1990s. Personal circumstances intervened and I finished the Basic Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) course as a cadet officer, but not the Advanced ROTC program. Thus, I am not a member of the UP Vanguard Inc. (UPVI), which, according to its website, is (as of March 29, 1952) 'an alumni organization composed of graduates of the UP ROTC Advance Courses, and in 1963 was incorporated as a non-stock, non-profit corporation.'