In a manifestation filed Tuesday, May 20, Cudia’s parents asked the SC to admit the CHR’s 30-page Final Investigation Report that found the cadet’s right to due process and privileged communication violated by the PMA Honor Committee which voted for his dismissal from the PMA. (READ: PMA Honor Committee violated Cudia’s rights – CHR)
The CHR said the Honor Committee deprived Cudia of his rights by holding a “sham trial” and convicting him “for an offense he did not commit.”
Cudia’s case before the High Court stems from a petition filed by his father Renato seeking to nullify his son’s dismissal from the academy over charges he lied when he explained his tardiness in his 3 pm English class on November 14, 2013. His mother later filed a petition for intervention; it was granted by the SC.
The PMA Honor Committee, a powerful group in the PMA composed entirely of cadets, found Cudia guilty of violating the PMA Honor Code. The committee probes into and rules on reports of alleged violations of the PMA Honor Code, which compels cadets not to lie, cheat, steal, or tolerate those among them who do.
Cudia failed to graduate on the basis of the committee’s recommendation. According to his family, he was expecting to graduate as salutatorian of his class and at the top of his Navy class.
The Cudia family used social media to air their grievances, and the scandal that stretched for weeks raised questions about the rigid secrecy of the Honor Committee.
Cudia’s case also led the AFP leadership to order a review of the PMA’s Honor System.
Previous SC resolutions on Cudia’s case
In a notice dated March 31, the SC Third Division ordered the PMA to comment on the petition of Cudia’s mother Filipina who argued that the trial that led to her son’s dismissal was a “sham.”
Attached to her petition was an affidavit from one Commander Junjie Tabuada, who said he heard of the pressures faced by the Honor Committee member who initially voted against Cudia’s dismissal.
“Compounding his persecution, Cadet Cudia was given nothing but a sham trial. The affidavit of Commander Junjie Tabuada is enlightening. He recalled Cadet First Class Lagura stating, ‘Chinamber ako sir, bale pinapa-justify kung bakit NOT GUILTY vote ko, at na-pressure din ako sir kaya binago ko, sir.’ (I was sent to the chamber and was asked to justify why my vote was NOT GUILTY and I was pressured so I changed my vote, Sir.)”
Under PMA rules, a unanimous vote by the Honor Committee is needed to require a cadet to resign. Its proceedings are confidential and its decisions are often final.
The admission of Lagura, said Cudia’s mother, is “vital information which could shed light to the case of Cadet Cudia.”
A sworn statement taken directly from Lagura could not be obtained, the petition said, because an order to ostracize him if he spoke of the incident was in effect.
“Cadet Cudia cannot access or approach the cadets who were present during his trial and who witnessed the said 8-1 voting result as they are subject to the same order to ostracize,” the petition read.
“This practice of penalizing cadets who violate the order to ostracize is extremely unfair and runs afoul with the basic tenets of due process, which certainly is the bedrock of the trial of Cadet Cudia even when done under the auspices of a closed organization like the Corps of Cadets of the Armed Forces of the Philippines,” the petition further read. – Rappler.com
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