SC tells PMA, AFP to comment on Cudia plea

The Supreme Court has asked the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to explain the dismissal of Cadet Aldrin Cudia, who was found guilty of violating the school's Honor Code.

In a resolution, the SC ordered the PMA and the AFP 10 days to submit a comment on a petition filed by Cudia, who was supposed to graduate this year, last March 10.

The high court did not issue a status quo ante order or a temporary restraining order that would have allowed Cudia to graduate.

Cudia did not march with the Siklab Diwa batch during the PMA’s graduation rites last Sunday in Baguio City since his appeal was still pending before the AFP and the PMA.

Last February, the PMA Honor Committee found Cudia guilty of lying about his reason for being late for a class, a violation that led to his dismissal from the academy.

Cudia’s classmates began ostracizing him after he opted to stay in the PMA even after he was recommended for dismissal by the Honor Committee.

His family, however, has claimed there were alleged irregularities in how the committee voted on his case, and asked President Benigno Aquino III to overturn the decision.

Cudia has also asked the court to issue a writ of prohibition to bar the PMA and its Honor Committee from using a guilty verdict as a basis for dismissing a cadet from the academy and for ostracizing cadets in the future. — Mark Merueñas/KBK, GMA News