Dismissed PMA cadet asked SC anew to immediately resolve case

By: Tetch Torres-Tupas - 10 years ago

Cadet Aldrin Jeff Cudia. PHOTO FROM FACEBOOK

MANILA, Philippines—The mother of dismissed Philippine Military Academy cadet Aldrin Jeff Cudia has asked the Supreme Court anew to immediately resolve the petition questioning her son’s dismissal from the military academy early this year.

In her six-page third motion to submit the case for early resolution and reiteration of manifestation in lieu of memorandum, Cudia’s mother Filipina through Public Attorney’s Office Chief Persida Ruth Acosta told the high court that it is imperative to resolve the case, citing “paramount national interest.”

“As the case concerns the country’s premiere training school for the military, supported by the Office of the President, on the one hand and on another, an exceptional student with a bright future in the military service, the case’s early resolution is of paramount national interest,” the motion stated.

“Without the case being resolved, Cadet Cudia’s future is at a standstill as his immediate employment or pursuance of higher education is made nearly impossible as his transcript of records says ‘on indefinite suspension’,” the motion further stated.

Cudia was found guilty of lying about his reason for being late in class. He was not able to join his classmates of the Siklab Diwa class during their graduation rites last March 16.

He filed an appeal but it was dismissed by the PMA and the Cadet Review and Appeals Board (CRAB) while a meeting with the President also did not bear fruit as the latter only directed then AFP Chief of Staff Emmanuel Bautista to conduct a review of the case.

Cudia then filed a petition with the high court but the High Court did not issue a status quo ante order or a temporary restraining order that would have allowed him to graduate.

The Commission on Human Rights which investigated the matter on April found that Cudia was “given nothing but a sham trial and that the PMA Honor Committee violated the Honor Code when it refused to accept the “not guilty” verdict and instead called for a “chambering” changing the 8-1 votes to 9-0 that led to his dismissal from the military academy.

Cudia’s camp said the cadet who voted not guilty—Cadet First Class Dalton John Lagura – was “pressured” into changing his vote to secure the guilty conviction.

This, they added, violated the Honor Code since it expressly provides a unanimous vote or nine votes of guilty to decide that a cadet is found guilty of violating the Honor Code.

The CHR report also said the members of the Honor Committee lied and cheated when they deliberately withheld the truth in the minutes of their proceedings and that they and the members of the Cadet Review and Appeals Board or CRAB cheated when they refused to cooperate with the CHR in its probe.