AFP gives Cudia another chance to air side

By: Bong Lozada - 10 years ago

Cadet First Class Aldrin Jeff Cudia. Photo from Facebook

MANILA, Philippines—He may be left out on the list of graduates, but the military’s top brass has put him under his luster.

General Emmanuel Bautista, Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff, gave Cadet First Class Aldrin Jeff Cudia an extension to air his side on the issue that rocked the otherwise elite world of the Philippine Military Academy.

Cudia, who showed up a few minutes late to class, was taken out of the graduates list of the PMA for the 2014 batch of cadets.

In a radio interview, Secretary Herminio Coloma of the Presidential Communications Operations quoted AFP spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Raymond Zagala that Cudia and Bautista met on Feb. 24 and the AFP chief gave the cadet an opportunity to raise his side on Feb. 25.

Cudia, however, could not provide his statement on the given date, and was given an extension to give his side of the story on March 4.

On March 4, however, Cudia was again unable to give his side and on that day was given another extension that would end on March 15.

“On the eyes of the AFP, this would be a very good opportunity for him to express his full position,” Coloma quoted Zagala in a radio interview.

“Truth and fairness are the AFP’s primary guidepost in addressing the case of Cadet Cudia.”