Section 19 of said decree provided that “there shall be established in the Integrated National Police a premiere police service training institution to be known as the Philippine National Police Academy for the education and training of the members of the INP.” In February 1978, General Ramos recommended to Minister Juan Ponce Enrile, then Minister of National Defense, for the activation of the Philippine National Police Academy. As a result of the recommendation, Ministry of National Defense (MND) Order No. 83 was issued on May 25, 1978 activating the Philippine National Police Academy effective June 12, 1978 in line with the national objective to upgrade the law enforcement service in the country. Pursuant to said Ministry Order, General Orders No. 23-P of Headquarters Philippine Constabulary / Integrated National Police dated 23 June 1978 formally announced the activation of the Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA). The speed that characterized the creation and establishment of the new PNPA was a clear indication of the important role of the institution in the professional development of police officers in the country. In fact, its actual operations began even before its formal inauguration. It conducted entrance examinations for cadetship on May 28 and June 4, 1978 to select the best applicants for its first batch of cadets. When the formal inauguration took place on June 30, 1978, the cadets had to share quarters with the INP Training Command at Fort Bonifacio in Makati for more than two months before it moved to Camp Vicente Lim in Calamba, Laguna as its training venue on August 19, 1978. The apparent infancy of the Academy presented such as lack of formal organization, staffing and a training site. This was, however, resolved by having the Integrated National Police Training Command Headquarters at Fort Bonifacio serve as surrogate organization of the Academy. Simultaneously with the formal establishment of the Academy, the first batch of police cadets was chosen after a rigorous and painstaking selection process – including thorough medical and psychiatric examinations that took place on June 30, 1978. Formal academic instructions started on July 17, 1978 with 50 cadets, in formal ceremonies at Fort Bonifacio in the present Philippine Public Safety College grounds. Two years later, 45 of them finally graduated to compose the first Bachelor of Science in Public Safety (BSPS) graduates – the Maharlika Class of 1980, commissioned Police Lieutenants. During its initial years of existence, the Academy limited the admission of its student-cadets to the two-year Bachelor of Science in Public Safety (BSPS) for qualified members of the Integrated National Police (INP) only.