Frat violence is symptom of a deeper problem

The insignia of fraternity gangsterism has been deeply embedded in government and the sufferings of our people.

Beyond being the latest victim of campus violence and addition to statistics of fraternity deaths, UST law student Horacio “Atio” Castillo III is — in a broader sense — another vivid representation of the Filipino plight.

How many more hazing fatalities, movie/TV violence and bad governance do we need before we’ll be awakened fully as a nation? Or, will such a time ever come to a citizenry that pretends to see and longs for change, yet spitefully slumbers? Perhaps never, until our heroes and martyrs would rise from their graves to light up the torch for us again.

Will there be a dawning of days again when the hero in each of us ceases to be cowed and cowered, baited and bamboozled?

Fraternities in schools and elsewhere should be disbanded and outlawed, now! There is no reasonable, legal and moral argument procurable to the contrary. Hazing violence is just a symptom of a deeper problem.

Government could have long done this but it did not and most certainly would not, for the obvious reason that government is full of “high and mighty” gods, securely entrenched atop their thrones in every administration. Alas, they are and were themselves brainwashed masters and members of their respective fraternity organizations, framed and fashioned by their avowals and creeds in the “brotherhood,” molded by fraternities from their student years and as professionals prior to entering “public service.”

Lo and behold, the country gets ever deeper into darkness.

RENI M. VALENZUELA, [email protected]