Public Attorney’s Office chief turns emotional at press briefing as PMA cadet Cudia seeks SC consideration for humanitarian reason
by Leony R. Garcia
One of the country’s highly visible public servant – one mostly admired by the media including the entertainment press – isn’t giving up on the fight of young Philippine Military Academy cadet Jeff Aldrin Cudia.
“[I]n the higher interest of justice, and on equitable and humanitarian considerations, [the SC] may compel the [PMA] to award cadet Cudia with his diploma, a clean transcript of records and a bachelor of science degree, as well as other documents which may facilitate his transfer to an institution of higher learning,” PAO chief Persida Acosta said.
“Ang Diyos ay gising; pwede pong gumawa Siya ng paraan na mga mahistrado natin . . . ay kumurap-kurap at tumingala sa langit. Talo kami pero ‘di ako papayag; kelangan lumaban kahit man lang sa langit kami manalo.” Acosta said.
The mother of the dismissed cadet on September 10 asked the tribunal to reverse its February 2015 ruling upholding the dismissal.
In her motion, which was filed through the Public Attorney’s Office office, Mrs. Filipina Cudia lauded the Supreme Court for being “Solomonic” in granting Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile’s petition for bail in connection with a plunder case lodged against him over the alleged pork barrel scam before the Sandiganbayan.
In granting Enrile’s bail petition, the SC noted his frail health and advanced age. Cudia’s mother hoped the high court would show the same compassion to her son as the family could not afford to have the young Cudia repeat his tertiary education, the motion noted.
The Cudia camp said that prior to the eruption of the controversy, the cadet’s father, Renato Cudia, had suffered a brain stroke.
“With Cudia’s mother unemployed and his father seriously ailing, Cadet Cudia’s re-enrollment for tertiary education would be too difficult for the indigent Cudia family to bear,” Acosta said.
The PAO lady chief got so emotional during the press briefing that she lost consciousness. It was later found out that Acosta’s blood pressure rose to 150/100 which could have caused her to faint.
The Child and Youth Welfare Code of the Philippines
In this writer’s earlier interview with the PAO chief, Acosta has been boasting of the fact that the Philippines is one of the democratic countries in the world that has the best set of laws in its constitution. An advocate for children and women welfare, Acosta has been rallying behind for the benefit of the indigents most especially this sector.
This makes me really wonder why the highest court of the land has been harsh to Aldrin Cudia by withholding his necessary documents to study again thereby not giving him a second chance for a minor offense he committed at the PMA.
The Child and Youth Welfare Code of the Philippines states, among other things that “the Child is one of the most important assets of the nation. Every effort should be exerted to promote his welfare and enhance his opportunities for a useful and happy life.
Every child has the right to an education commensurate with his abilities and to the development of his skills for the improvement of his capacity for service to himself and to his fellowmen.
Every child has the right to the care, assistance, and protection of the State, particularly when his parents or guardians fail or are unable to provide him with his fundamental needs for growth, development, and improvement.
Every child has the right to an efficient and honest government that will deepen his faith in democracy and inspire him with the morality of the constituted authorities both in their public and private lives.”
If the government and the highest executive of the land himself could not question “PMA’s academic freedom” and therefore inutile for Cudia’s case, kanino pa siya pwede lumapit? Ang hangad lang ng kabataang ito at ng kanyang pamilya at makagsimula muli at makapag-aral!
