THE PHILIPPINE Army named a student of the Silliman University as the Best Female Reserve Officers’ Training Corps Cadet for 2022.

Cadet Major Nurshema Upi 2CL underwent a screening process and an interview with the Philippine Army last February 14 and 24, 2023.

During the interview, the university said Upi talked about her journey of becoming an ROTC officer.

She also discussed how the instructors and senior officers of the SU ROTC Unit nurtured her leadership skills, and how she became motivated to work on her growth and development.

Upi also spoke about representing her Tausug tribe and her desire to break stereotypes about her people.

“Some people are scared of going to Jolo due to what has happened. But we (Tausugs) also live a normal life like everyone else in the country,” she said.

“And so I brought my tribe with me and spoke [on] behalf of them; that we, Tausugs, are also capable of sustaining and securing the peace within our land and that we are also capable of defending it [and we] are also peacemakers… not everything that we see in the media is the general truth of what’s happening within our land,” she stressed.