It's final: Cudia not graduating March 16

From Rappler (Mar 15): It's final: Cudia not graduating March 16



It's final: Cadet First Class Aldrin Jeff Cudia, the honor student who was dismissed for supposedly lying, is not graduating from the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) on Sunday, March 16.

"The final recommendation of the CRAB is to deny the appeal of Cadet Cudia. It deliberated on the 3 counts for which his appeal was based upon," PMA Commandant Colonel Rozzano Briguez announced on Saturday, March 15.

"Cadet Cudia will not march tomorrow. Cadet Cudia will not march tomorrow," Briguez added. "This year, categorically, he cannot graduate."

President Benigno Aquino III has the power to overturn CRAB's decision. But the PMA said that, even if the Commander-in-Chief decides to reinstall Cudia at the PMA, the cadet still won't be allowed to graduate with the Siklab Diwa class tomorrow because he failed to complete his academic requirements even before he was investigated for Honor Code violation.

"Technically, the President may not approve the administrative separation because he is the commander in chief of the Armed Forces fo the Philippines," Briguez said.

As of Saturday, Superintendent Major General Oscar Lopez was finalizing the report that will be submitted to the President. This is the 3rd time that PMA is upholding the dismissal of Cudia after the powerful Honor Committee declared him guilty of lying, a violation of the PMA Honor Code.

Cudia supposedly lied when he claimed that his first class was dismissed late so he came to his next class about two minutes late.

[Video: PMA Commandant Colonel Rozzano Briguez announces ruling on Cadet Jeff Cudia
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_njwm9O4iV0]

In his appeal, Cudia presented a new evidence to show alleged mistrial. One of the 9 voting members of the Honor Committee was supposedly forced to change his "not guilty" vote to make it a unanimous 9-0. Navy Commander Junjie Tabuada, head of the naval warfare, executed an affidavit detailing his supposed conversation with a certain Cadet Lagura.

But Briguez said the cadet issued a denial. The CRAB also recommended a separate investigation on Tabuada for "conduct unbecoming of an officer," a violation of the articles of war.

Briguez also explained that there was nothing with the honor committee holding a second vote to change the 8-1 not guilty vote to a 9-0 unanimous guilty vote.

"If you have a voting of 7-2 or 8-1, they go automatically into an executive session which is termed chambering. It is like an additional explanation [to discuss their vote]," said Briguez.

It is apparently a new procedure adopted as early as the 1990s.

He said the Honor Committee also cannot be accused of not getting the side of Costales, the instructor who asked Cudia to wait for the grades of the class and inadvertently caused him to be late in his next class.

A mother's appeal

Cudia's mother, Filipina, is not giving up. Up to the last minute, she appealed to the President to allow her son to graduate on Sunday.

"Mahal na Pangulo, nananawagan po ako sa inyo. Humihingi po kami ng awa na sana po ipagkaloob mo pa ang hustisya sa anak ko. Mahal na Pangulo, wala po talaga siya ginawang kasalanan. 'Yung Honor Committee po ang gumawa ng mali," she said.

(Beloved Presient, I'm appealing to you. We're asking for compassion, for you to extend justice to my son. Beloved President, he really did not do anything wrong. It's the honor committee that committed a mistake.)

"Gusto ko po bukas makasabay niya kaklase niya maka-graduate siya. Pinaghirapan niya 'yun," she added. (My desire is for him to be graduate tomorrow together with his classmates. He worked hard for that.)

Cudia's appeal has led the Armed Forces leadership to order a review of PMA's honor system, and has reached President Benigno Aquino III.

[Video: Cadet Cudia's last minute appeal to President Aquino
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zduxApm1YZY]

Another witness?

Inspite of Lagura's denial, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) released a report on Friday, March 14, recommending that Cudia be allowed to graduate with his classmates on Sunday. (VIDEO: CHR probes PMA cadet dismissal, examines honor systemli)

The CHR spoke of another witness, a member of the Honor Committee, who supported Tabuada's claim. Briguez said this was not in the appeal of Cudia, however.

The Honor Committee is a powerful group inside the academy that is composed entirely of PMA students. They investigate and rule on reports of alleged violations of the PMA Honor Code, which orders cadets not to lie, cheat, steal, or tolerate those among them who do.

PMA spokesperson Major Lynette Flores, in an earlier interview on radio, dismissed allegations that the academy was being "harsh" on Cudia for imposing a grave penalty for such a "small" offense. She said Cudia had been investigated twice before this case, on allegations of cheating.

http://www.rappler.com/nation/53068-final-pma-cadet-cudia-not-graduating