End hazing, brutal rituals for good

The conviction of 10 frat men for the death of a law freshman due to fraternity-related injuries seven years ago has revived calls to end the culture of violence in campuses and organizations. These calls to stop such practice are timely with the death late last month of another young man, reportedly also due to fraternity initiation rites, as well as recent plans to revive the mandatory Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) program, where hazing was known to be widely practiced.

On Oct. 1, a Manila court sentenced 10 Aegis Juris upperclassmen to reclusion perpetua, or a prison term of up to 40 years, for the death of Horacio “Atio” Castillo III. Castillo, then a 22-year-old freshman law student at the University of Santo Tomas (UST), succumbed to severe injuries on Sept. 17, 2017, after undergoing initiation rites conducted by members of Aegis Juris fraternity. The frat men were also ordered to pay the Castillo family almost P700,000 in damages.

Seven years is a long time for Castillo’s loved ones but as former justice secretary Leila de Lima said about the case, “justice always catches up.” The verdict has been hailed as a stand against fraternity violence, which continues to claim many lives despite the enactment of Republic Act No. 8049 or the Anti-Hazing Act of 1995.

Only one conviction

The Philippines has a long history of hazing-related deaths with the first recorded in 1954 involving Upsilon Sigma Phi at the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman. However, it was not until many years after Leonardo Villa’s death in 1991 that the anti-hazing law was passed. Villa died from multiple injuries after undergoing hazing rites by Aquila Legis, a fraternity of law students at the Ateneo de Manila University.

RA 8049 mandated that school authorities or heads of organization should be informed through written notice seven days before hazing or initiation rites were to be conducted. It required the presence of at least two school or organization representatives during the initiation to ensure that no physical harm was inflicted on recruits.

Not only have violent and fatal initiation rituals persisted but, in two decades since the law was signed in 1995, only one conviction was made under RA 8049: in 2015, when the Supreme Court found two Alpha Phi Omega members guilty of the 2006 death of UP Los Baños student Marlon Villanueva.

In 2018, RA 11053, or the Anti-Hazing Act of 2018, amending RA 8049, was enacted. This law prohibits all forms of hazing in fraternities, sororities, and organizations in and outside schools, in citizens’ military training, and in businesses or corporations. RA 11053, however, further provides that the physical, mental, and psychological fitness of prospective regular members of the police and the military “shall not be considered hazing.”

Violent practices

There have been at least 17 deaths due to hazing from 2014 to 2024, based on data cited by Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian. The most recent case involves Grade 11 student Ren Joseph Bayan who died on Sept. 29 after reportedly being beaten by members of the Tau Gamma Phi fraternity; his death is under investigation.

The deaths of Castillo et al.—and the many others unreported—are a reminder that violent practices enabled by organizations should not be tolerated and, therefore, should be eliminated. The government’s plan to revive the ROTC program should be revisited given President Marcos’ stance that brotherhood should not be measured through violence, a statement he made last year following another hazing death, that of Adamson University student John Matthew Salilig.

There were rampant complaints of harsh practices, including hazing, when ROTC was still mandatory. The program was abolished in 2002, a year after UST student Mark Welson Chua was brutally killed.

Red flags

Chua had exposed alleged corruption in his school’s military training program and went missing a month after the exposé. He was later fished out of the Pasig River, his body wrapped in carpet, face covered in duct tape, and hands and legs bound. In 2004, ROTC cadet Arnulfo Aparri Jr. was sentenced to death (later commuted to life imprisonment without parole after the death penalty was abolished in 2006) for Chua’s death.

Legislators supporting the revival of ROTC justify their move as necessary to instill “strong love for the country” especially given recent geopolitical developments in the region. They assured that there would be enough safeguards in the proposed law to prevent hazing. But is this the only way to encourage patriotism?

We should not ignore the red flags indicating that the existence of safeguards does not guarantee an end to the culture of violence enabled in these organizations under the guise of inspiring loyalty and brotherhood. It behooves the leaders of this country and these organizations to stop the cycle of senseless violence that has prematurely ended many young lives because, in a just, humane, and modern society, there is simply no room for brutal rituals to continue.