MANILA, Philippines — Dismissed Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Cadet 1st Class Jeff Aldrin Cudia was not discouraged by President Aquino's decision to uphold his removal from the 2014 graduates' list.
In a petition submitted to the Supreme Court on Monday, Cudia accused the academy of "grave abuse of discretion" in penalizing him with the dismissal after he arrived two minutes late in class and allegedly lying about it.
The plea was filed as a reply to the comment of the Office of the Solicitor General on his earlier petition endorsed by the Commission on Human Rights.
Related: It's final: PNoy affirms Cudia's dismissal
Cudia also argued that he was denied due process by the military academy.
He insisted that his exclusion from the graduation ceremony last March 16, where he was supposed to finish second in his class, can be "moot and academic."
The merits of his case, however, cannot be overlooked by the court, he argued in the petition penned by the Public Attorney's Office (PAO).
PAO chief Persia Rueda Acosta, Cudia's counsel, said that is a "judicial supremacy" in similar cases of abuse and violation of human rights by some officials of the PMA in the past.
She also slammed the Solicitor General's position that Cudia's case is not under the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court.