Chief Justice Peralta is guest of honor at PMA alumni event

Chief Justice Diosdado Peralta. INQUIRER.net file photo / CATHY MIRANDA

MANILA, Philippines — Supreme Court Chief Justice Diosdado Peralta will be the guest of honor at the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) alumni homecoming in Baguio City later this week.

In 2015, Peralta penned the Supreme Court decision affirming the dismissal of a PMA cadet for violating the school’s honor code.

The PMA Honor Committee dismissed Cadet Aldrin Jeff Cudia, who was supposed to graduate with honors in 2014, for lying about his explanation why he was late for class, an act that the committee of cadets said violated the Honor Code.

It was a controversy that reached the General Headquarters up to the Supreme Court. In the end, Cudia did not graduate.

Peralta, who is retiring in March, will be speaking at the annual PMA alumni event on Feb. 13, with the theme “Passing on a Brighter Torch to Our Successors,” said PMA spokesperson Maj. Cherryl Tindog.

This year’s homecoming won’t be like in the previous years because of Covid-19. The PMA has been allowed by the Interagency Task Force to hold the event, but only with a limited capacity.

“As of now, there are only 90 alumni and awardees who signified to attend the activities, which is far less than the authorized number of attendees,” Tindog said.

The IATF allowed the gathering as long as 30 percent of the venue’s capacity would be occupied.

Others will only participate through Zoom conference. In the past years, as many 3,000 graduates have visited the PMA for the alumni homecoming.

Those who would visit the PMA this weekend would be required to take swab tests with a negative result before coming to Baguio City.

JPV