Cudia leaves PMA

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines (UPDATED) – After losing his battle to graduate with his classmates on Sunday, March 16, dismissed Cadet Aldrin Jeff Cudia packed his bags and left Fort del Pilar – his home for 4 years. 

Cudia left PMA grounds Sunday at 950 pm, according to Philippine Military Academy Commandant Colonel Rozzano Briguez.

Cudia’s lawyers made the arrangement Sunday morning. “Cudia’s lawyers contacted our Chief of Academy Staff this morning signifying their intention for Cadet Cudia to already leave PMA. We at the academy are arranging the necessary documents so that he can already leave per their request,” Briguez told Rappler early Sunday evening.

Cudia has been staying in a holding center inside the PMA for about 2 months now. He refused to resign after the Honor Committee declared him guilty of violating the PMA Honor Code. 

He supposedly lied about the reason he was late for a class in November. 

Watch this Sunday morning interview with PMA spokesperson Major Lynette Flores. She explained what will happen in the new probe on Cudia’s case.

Cudia gained strong public support after the Facebook post of his family became viral. President Benigno Aquino III himself met with Cudia and his family on Saturday, March 15. He ordered another probe to be led by Armed Forces chief of staff General Emmanuel Bautista.

The President’s move is unprecedented. The Honor Committee is a body composed entirely of students. Its proceedings are supposed to be confidential and internal to the cadets. 

The controversy has prompted calls for a review of the academy’s systems.

Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin, a PMA alumnus and fomer Army chief, acknowledged that there are procedures in PMA that need to be reviewed because of new laws particularly on International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights. 

“There are new laws that we didn’t have during our time. We weren’t violating then. Now we have to study it,” said Gazmin. – Rappler.com