A fourth-year student of the Philippine College of Criminology (PCCR) died in hazing rites in Quezon City last Monday, the Quezon City Police District reported yesterday.
Four members of the Tau Gamma Phi Fraternity are under police custody for involvement in the death of Ahldryn Lery Chua Bravante.
Bravente, 25, a fourth-year PCCR student and a neophyte member of the fraternity, was a resident of Imus, Cavite.
Police learned of the hazing last Monday night after the Manila Police District received a call from the Chinese General Hospital in Manila at around 7 p.m. reporting that an unconscious man was brought to the hospital by two men.
Policemen went to the hospital and interviewed the victim’s companions — Justine Cantillo Artates and Kyle Michael De Castro — who introduced themselves as members of the Tau Gamma Phil Fraternity-PCCR chapter.
Artates, 20, is a third-year student of the PCCR and also a resident of Imus, Cavite. Police said De Castro is a 21-year-old resident of Barangay Paang Bundok in Quezon City.
The two told investigators that Bravante was subjected to initiation rites on Monday afternoon beside an abandoned building of the STEPS Condominium on Calamba St., Barangay Sto. Domingo in Quezon City.
“However, after the initiation rite, the victim had difficulty breathing and became unconscious,” a QCPD report said.
Bravante was declared dead on arrival by the attending physician, Dr. Pamela Tangcueco, at around 6:40 p.m. on Monday.
Manila policemen took custody of Artatez and De Castro, who were later turned over to the QCPD.
Two other fraternity members, Lexer Angelo Diala Manarpies and Mark Leo Domecillo Andales, surrendered to the PNP Criminal Investigation and Group-Quezon City Field Unit at around 1:10 a.m. yesterday. They were also turned over to the QCPD.
Manarpies and Andales are both 20 years old and students of PCCR.