Cudia leaves PMA

Cadet Aldrin Jeff Cudia. PHOTO FROM FACEBOOK

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines—Cadet Jeff Cudia left the Philippine Military Academy Sunday night, more than a month after he was dismissed for allegedly breaking the Honor Code, Major Agnes Lynette Flores, PMA spokesperson, said Monday.

Cudia, who belonged the PMA Siklab Diwa Class of 2014 that graduated on Sunday, was fetched by his relatives and a lawyer from the Public Attorney’s Office at 10 p.m., Flores said.

In Cudia’s home province of Pampanga, Cudia’s father confirmed that his son left the PMA’s Fort del Pilar as the cadet awaited the results of an investigation ordered by President Aquino into his dismissal.

“Jeff is out,” Cudia’s father Renato told the Inquirer by telephone Monday morning.

The elder Cudia declined to say where his 22-year-old son was staying or if he was in the family home in Barangay (village) San Mateo in Arayat town.

He said his son, the third in a brood of four, needed “some peace of mind and more time for prayer.”

The younger Cudia’s fight to counter his honor committee conviction for lying had been waged in public ever since his sister revealed the details of his case in social media.

But after a closed-door meeting with President Aquino on Saturday night, the eve of the graduation, Cudia kept to himself and was not seen on Sunday when the President led the commencement exercises.

Palace officials said Aquino allowed him to file another appeal, this time before Armed Forces Chief of Staff, Gen. Emmanuel Bautista.

The cadet review and appeals board had twice examined Cudia’s case and conviction, and had affirmed the decision made by his peers, who make up the honor committee.

In a statement released on Saturday night, Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin confirmed Aquino’s meeting with Cudia and his family.

“The President and I met with the family of [Cudia] and heard them out. They had appeals, requests, and also raised some issues. We made sure that they were given the opportunity to air their side, at the end of which, we recommended that they formalize their appeal, requests, and other concerns in writing,” Gazmin said in the statement.

The PMA’s honor committee found Cudia guilty of lying, a serious offense, because of how he justified being tardy to a class last year. Cudia had contested the demerits he received for being late, but it opened him to an honor report (a complaint for violating the honor code, which prohibits lying, cheating, stealing or tolerating and condoning fellow cadets who commit these offenses).

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