Compiled by Cheryl Sevegan
Many of us are sent to study in school despite poverty by our loving parents who sacrifice everything just to give us a better future. Dreaming that by giving the best education to their children, parents expect them to somehow change and improve their way of living and social status in life. With this in mind, parents become inspired to work, hoping with great determination that someday this dream will come true and all their hardships will be rewarded. But what if this dream that is too close to grasp simply vanished and shattered in just a blink of an eye?
The case of an ordinary boy who dreamed to be one of the graduates of the only reputable and prominent military school in our country, the Philippine Military Academy, became the talk of every Filipino in these past few days. His sensational case became viral that everyone has its own opinion about it. His dismissal from the PMA became controversial, some finding it unjust and unfair, while some said a rule is a rule that must be followed and that the school code of conduct must not be broken.
PMA senior cadet Aldrin Jeff Cudia has been accused of lying about being two minutes late to class and found guilty by a committee made up of his peers and wasn’t able to join the graduation rites of his Siklab Diwa class last March 17, 2014.
General Emmanuel Bautista, Armed Forces Chief of Staff, has ordered officials at the academy to investigate what happened, with an eye toward letting Cudia to join in the march. He even instructed the academy officials to give another chance to Cudia to explain his side. Major General Oscar Lopez, superintendent at the academy, has been tasked with heading up the investigation.
Cudia is a star cadet but was allegedly found lying about he was two minutes late for class and told tactical officer that he was late because he had been dismissed late from the previous class. Soon after, the PMA leadership and members of the cadet corps were surprised by the filing of counter charges against nine officers of the Honor Committee who ordered his dismissal after he was found guilty of violating the academy’s Honor Code.
PMA spokesman Maj. Agnes Lynnette Flores said that it was the decision of the cadet corps to ostracize him because they do not like what Cadet Cudia is doing. She also made clear that Cadet Cudia is not being treated as a prisoner or detainee. Since he has been administratively discharged, he can go anytime and that they only want to ensure his safety from any harm.
In an ABS-CBN News report, Cudia said that members of the committee also lied and cheated after he found out that the result of the initial voting had acquitted him, but the decision was later changed.Cudia alleged there was one committee member who voted “not guilty.” Under the Honor Code rules, one “not guilty” vote is enough to merit the acquittal of an accused.
Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said the night before the graduation rites that they made sure that they were given the opportunity to air their side which they recumbent at the end that they formalize their appeal, request and other concerns in writing. Cudia remained in the PMA holding center while the graduation rites of his classmates were taking place.
The Cudia family had asked to meet with the President which the President acceded to the request because he wanted to listen to both parties so that he can weigh all the issues. The Cudia family wanted Jeff to be able to join the graduation but the appeals board didn’t allow him because his requirements are incomplete. The President and Gazmin met with Cudia, his parents and sister Anavee for three hours at the Presidential Mansion. It would have been a cordial meeting if not for Cudia’s sister who kept on interjecting while the President spoke to the ex-cadet, of which an irritated President Aquino told Anavee in Filipino, “I’m not talking to you,” and there were also instances when Anavee looked at the President sharply (“inirapan”), opposite to Cudia’s parents who “were very nice.” Cudia’s mother’s only request from the President was for her son to be given his diploma. The President met with PMA officials before and after talking with the Cudia family.
On Sunday afternoon, Mr. Aquino met with Cudia’s classmates, newly minted second lieutenants and ensigns, for snacks and a dialogue. The President made it a point to meet with the new officers following the PMA graduation rites.
Sixteen members of the Siklab Diwa class were able to ask him questions that ranged from the Cudia controversy to the Commander-in-Chief’s love life. The AFP Chief of Staff, General Emmanuel Bautista, will handle a reinvestigation of Cudia’s case should the ex-cadet decide to follow the President’s advice.
Gazmin said the President had directed the PMA Superintendent, Maj Gen. Oscar Lopez, to form a technical working group to look into possible reforms in the honor system. “The system might need to be updated as times have changed,” he said.
“During our time, there was no International Human Rights Law. So (to our minds), we were not violating any human rights (in the honor system). These are new (concepts), so we now have to study (the system),” said Gazmin of the PMA Class ’68. Cudia was convicted by fellow cadets, who comprised the Honor Committee, of lying for being late for class for two minutes last November.
Lying is a violation of the Honor Code, which states cadets “do not lie, cheat, steal nor tolerate those who do.” The spirit of the honor system also includes the questions “Did I intend to deceive?” and “Did I intend to take undue advantage?” Saying “No” to both questions means there is no violation of the honor code.
Lt. Col. Ramon Zagala, AFP spokesperson, described the code “as a commitment among cadets of the PMA that defines the desirable values they must possess to remain part of the cadet corps. Basically, it develops the atmosphere of trust, sincerity and truthfulness among the cadets.”
“Meanwhile, the Spirit of the Honor Code enables the cadets to absorb the code as a set of basic and fundamental ethical and moral principles, and not just a long list of prohibited acts they could memorize. It is this absorption that allows the cadets to identify and assess misconduct beyond technical and legal procedures.
“This spirit gives the cadets integrity to do the right thing even though no one is looking, as well as to develop them to become trustworthy leaders. Sadly, after a series of appeal, President Benigno Aquino did not allow him to graduate with his “Siklab Diwa” class on Sunday, March 17, 2014 but gave him the option to appeal his case. The President asked Cudia and his family to formalize their appeal in writing for his review.
He added it was agreed that “Cadet First Class Cudia will not graduate, without prejudice to whatever will be the result of their new appeal, which is now elevated to the CSAFP (Emmanuel Bautista) whom the President directed to investigate.” Aquino, as Commander-in-Chief, presided over the graduation ceremonies.
Saturday before graduation, Colonel Rozzano Briguez, the commandant of cadets, told reporters that the Cadet Review and Appeals Board (CRAB) denied Cudia’s motion for reconsideration, adding that only the President as the Commander-in-chief of the military could reverse Cudia’s fate. Cudia spent the day in a room in the Bachelor Officers’ Quarters as his classmates had their Recognition Day.
The class’ 10 topnotchers and other cadets who excelled in different fields were given awards in a ceremony led by Gazmin. Gazmin, a member of PMA Class ’68, did not make any reference to the Cudia case in his speech.
By Briguez’s account, Cudia lost in the three arguments on which he based his appeal:Cudia presented an affidavit by Commodore Junjie Tabuada, head of the PMA Naval Warfare Group, quoting honor committee member, Cadet 1st Class Dalton John Lagura, as saying that he (Lagura) was pressured into changing his vote from not guilty to guilty.Lagura denied making such statement to Tabuada.“According to the cadet, it was his own voluntary volition (sic) to change his vote from not guilty to guilty after he heard the explanation of the other members of the voting members of the Honor Committee,” Briguez said. Briguez said that Tabuada himself would now be investigated for his affidavit.
“There is another recommendation to the CRAB for a separate investigation for Commander Tabuada but this has nothing to do with the Honor Code. It has something to do with conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman, which falls under the Articles of War,” Briguez said.
Cudia accused the Honor Committee of grave abuse of discretion after its members changed its 8-1 vote to 9-0, the unanimous vote required to convict a cadet who had violated the Honor Code. Briguez said the appeals board upheld the procedure agreed upon by all cadets and followed by the Honor Committee that in a 7-2 or 8-1 vote, the committee members will “go into a jury type executive session termed chambering.”
“It is like an additional explanation where all of them would go to the ante room and discuss what are the reasons why they voted guilty or not guilty. This has been their procedure since they started fourth-class year until first year and everybody accepted it conscientiously,” Briguez said.
On Cudia’s third and final point that the Honor Committee committed grave abuse of discretion for supposedly not hearing the testimony of professor Monica Costales, Briguez said the teacher submitted three testimonies.
The Honor Committee determined that Cudia had lied when he said he was late for class because the teacher made him and some of his classmates wait for their grades. Briguez said the PMA would enforce the decision of the appeals board, despite a petition filed in the Supreme Court asking for a status quo ante order for Cudia.
“The decision of the PMA stays. He has all legal remedies available to him,” Briguez said.
FORT DEL PILAR, Baguio City, Philippines—The top two graduates of “Siklab Diwa” Class of 2014 on Saturday said the public should support the decision of the military leadership, and ultimately, of President Benigno Aquino III on the fate of their classmate, Cadet First Class Aldrin Jeff Cudia.
Cudia, who has been fighting his dismissal, should accept and respect whatever decision is made, they said.“All I can tell Cadet Cudia is, he knows what is happening. Whatever decision the leadership makes, he should accept it wholeheartedly. His family and the Filipinos supporting him should accept it,” class Valedictorian Cadet First Class Jheorge Llona told reporters in an interview.
Llona said no one forced any of them to join the military, wherein they bind themselves to its rules and regulations. Cudia’s classmates are well aware of the support he has been able to generate among the public, especially netizens, who believe that the aspiring Navy officer should be given a second chance for the “small lie” he made on why he was late for class in November.
“Maybe in their minds that was just a small lie but the PMA wants to mold leaders. Whether a lie is big or small, it is still a lie,” said class Salutatorian Cadet First Class Liza Dango.
(The PMA had belatedly corrected the claim of Cudia’s family that he was the supposed Salutatorian. The school said Cudia’s grades actually qualified him for the third spot.)
Both Llona and Dango expressed support for the Honor Code and the honor system being followed by the cadet corps. “We have an honor system and the Honor Code. We support it. We believe in it. We stand by whatever we say and whatever our faults. In case we commit an offense against the Honor Code, we will accept the punishment,” Llona said.
Llona said he understood the civilians showing support for Cudia.“They don’t have so much idea about the honor system and the Honor Code. That’s why they are taking pity on Cudia, that’s why they had made such comments,” Llona said.
Llona said their class continues to be united despite the criticisms against them and the academy. Cudia, he said, remains part of their class. “We are saddened by what has happened but we have regulations to follow,” he said.
And it appears that resigning from the cadet corps is still not an option for Cudia.
Members of the Philippine Military Academy Corps of Cadets, from the incoming senior cadets to their juniors, have been watching the story of Cudia unfold, top academy officials said here yesterday.
Col. Rozzano Briguez, PMA commandant of cadets, said the cadets have been anxious about the scandal generated by social media, after Cudia’s sister, Annavee, disclosed her brother’s fight to graduate today.Briguez described his job as “the second father of all cadets,” whose chief task is to see to their physical, mental and emotional well-being.He said the PMA had been advising young cadets to ignore the attacks on the academy’s ethics and virtues, which were launched in sympathy for Cudia.
Briguez said the cadets have been monitoring the events to see how it would be resolved because it affects the very foundation of their ideals. All cadets, however, take the Honor Code pledge: “We, the cadets, do not lie, cheat, steal, nor tolerate among us those who do so.”
But the PMA is also reviewing the process taken by cadets to enforce the Honor Code, Briguez said.
For example, the PMA is considering adopting a process that would require cadets put on honor report (a complaint for violating the Honor Code) to have a lawyer during the hearings, Briguez said.
“We will discuss it with the cadets themselves. The honor system may not be perfect… but it is not static, it is dynamic,” Briguez said.He said the cadets had also learned to ignore the issue and proceed with their tasks.
On Saturday, the junior cadets had fun by pulling out members of Siklab Diwa from their barracks to be dunked into the PMA pool, an annual tradition. But a day before graduation, Cudia’s fight remained the biggest story among parents and cadets alike.
Teotimo Bacsarsa, a Cebu resident and father of Cadet First Class Carlo Niño Bacsarsa, said he understands that cadets value their Honor Code. Cadet Bacsarsa received the Mathematics Award in a ceremony attended by Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin.
Alexander Balungaya of Cagayan said his son, Cadet First Class Alexander Balungaya Jr., was once turned back so he appreciates the hardships of a PMA training. He said Cudia will not simply abandon all that he went through without preserving his dignity. Of which the parents of Cadet First Class Billy Codiam of Kalinga agreed.
