AFP reprimands cadet who asked for Marcos wrist watch

Col. Francel Margareth Padilla, Spokesperson of Armed Forces of the Philippines, speaks to the members of the media during AFP Press Briefing at Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City on Tuesday, August 20, 2024. PHOTOS: Arnel Tacson, INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines — The cadet, who reportedly asked for the watch of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. as a gift during a graduation event “has already been dealt with,” according to Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesperson Col. Francel Margareth Padilla.

Padilla likewise clarified asking for the President’s watch is not a tradition within the Philippine Military Academy (PMA).

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“This is not a tradition of the PMA. We’ve been there, we graduated there, and through the years this is not a tradition we uphold. This is an isolated incident, and it has already been dealt with. It’s already a closed book on our side,” the AFP official said in a press conference on Tuesday.

“It was already addressed. He was already reprimanded; in our case, it’s already a closed book. He was already admonished.  It has already been dealt with according to the regulations of the AFP and the PMA,” Padilla stressed.

Last Friday, Vice President Sara Duterte disclosed how she pictured cutting or removing the head of Marcos after he allegedly declined to gift his watch to a cadet asking for it.

She also imagined telling Marcos that the kid he was talking to was a child who would be “ready to die for the country” and worked hard for years to get where he was now.