BY VICTOR REYES and ASHZEL HACHERO
SIX members of the Tau Gamma Phi-Adamson University chapter have been charged and arrested for violation of the Anti-Hazing law, or Republic Act 11053 over the fatal hazing of Adamson student John Matthew Salilig.
The charges were filed before the Department of Justice (DOJ) yesterday after a witness positively identified the six fraternity brothers as among those who hazed Salilig about two weeks ago in Laguna.
The witness, Roi dela Cruz, said he and Salilig were among those who were hazed during initiation rites in Biñan City last February 18.
Dela Cruz survived the hazing, but Salilig later died and was buried by fraternity members at a vacant lot in Imus, Cavite. His body was recovered by the police on February 28.
Salilig’s cadaver was brought to his hometown Zamboanga City on Thursday.
Police said Dela Cruz identified the six suspects, who voluntarily appeared before the Biñan City police station at around 11 p.m. Wednesday during a continuing investigation into the case.
The six were Tung Cheng Teng, leader of Tau Gamma Phi-Adamson University Chapter and group members Romero Earl Anthony, Jerome Balot, Sandro Victorino, Michael Lambert Ritalde and Mark Pedrosa.
“In the course of the investigation, complainant/witness Roi Osmond Tuazon dela Cruz appeared and positively identified the above-named suspects as principal in the commission of hazing against him and John Matthew Salilig,” a police report said.
The police said the suspects were placed under arrest after they were appraised of their constitutional rights and the nature of their arrest.
Dela Cruz also filed a complaint against the same set of suspects involved in Salilig’s death.
The suspects signed a waiver of detention and asked the DOJ to start the preliminary investigation into the incident, thereby skipping the inquest proceedings when prosecutors review existing evidence and determine whether an individual arrested without a court-issued warrant will be released on account of a dismissal of charges, released for further preliminary investigation proceedings, or charged in court.
Biñan police chief Lt. Col. Virgilio Jopia said the six will remain under police custody while undergoing preliminary investigation.
The DOJ has set the preliminary investigation on March 10 and has required the respondents to submit their counter-affidavits.
Of the six, Jopia said one has executed an extrajudicial confession while another led police to Salilig’s burial site.
“There are still at least 10 persons of interests who remain at large as of the moment,” Jopia said.
Meanwhile, a case for obstruction of justice has been filed against one Gregorio Cruz after he refused to cooperate with the police who wanted to inspect one of the vehicles used to transport Salilig.
Another suspect, Daniel Perry, 23 surrendered to Cavite Gov. Jonvic Remulla Thursday afternoon. Perry has been turned over to Cavite police director Col. Christopher Olazo.
Perry was later brought to the Trece Martirez City police station for documentation and later to the Biñan City police station for “proper disposition.”
Remulla said the suspect, who he said surrendered through a vice mayor from Cavite, feared for his life and was bothered by his conscience.
Remulla said Perry and Salilig supposedly rode a passenger bus on their way to Biñan to attend the initiation rites. He said Perry was among those who buried the remains of Salilig in Imus, Cavite.
HAZING
In a television interview, Dela Cruz said he was hazed ahead of Salilig.
Dela Cruz said he was hit with a paddle about 70 times, causing bruises which he showed to the television network. He also said his hazers also poured wax from a burning candle and whipped him using a belt.
Jopia said he considers the hazing of Salilig as already solved with the arrest of the suspects.
“With the arrest (of the suspects) we can consider the case solved, but not case closed. I am convinced that we have an airtight case,” said Jopia.
Jopia said Dela Cruz and another witness have accompanied police to the house, supposedly owned by one of the parents of the suspects, where the hazing allegedly took place.
On Wednesday morning, police said there were 18 suspects in the hazing of Salilig. Later on Wednesday, Jopia clarified that there were only 17 suspects in the case.
Salilig was last seen on February 18 and his decomposing body was found buried in a vacant lot in Brgy. Malagasang in Imus, Cavite on February 28.
CEBU HAZING
Public Attorneys’ Office (PAO) chief Persida Rueda Acosta yesterday disclosed yesterday another alleged hazing-related death involving a 20-year old student, which happened prior the fatal hazing of Salilig.
In a streamed press briefing, Acosta identified the victim as Ronnel Baguio, a native of Bataan province and a Marine engineering student at the University of Cebu.
Acosta said Baguio succumbed to injuries last December 2022 after allegedly undergoing initiation rites also by the Tau Gamma Phi fraternity.
PAO Director Revely Revelyn Ramos-Dacpano said Baguio’s mother, Leny, approached PAO for help on January 27 after her son died on December 19.
She said the hazing supposedly occurred on December 10, 2022. The victim was rushed to the hospital on December 18, 2022.
Baguio was allegedly “sponsored” by one of his college instructors to join Tau Gamma Phi.
Acosta bared the incident after Baguio’s mother, Leny, sought her help to expedite the investigation on her son’s case.
Mrs. Baguio said she was not aware that her son joined a fraternity, adding that on December 17, he asked her what medicines to take for urinary tract infection, headaches, and stomach pain.
Mrs. Baguio said he assured her he was fine when she asked his condition.
“Sabi ko malala ba ang kundisyon mo? Hindi naman daw, normal lang. Sabi ko magpa check-up ka agad (I asked him if his condition was severe and he said no, I told him to have himself checked up),” she said.
The following day, she said she again messaged his son to consult a doctor after he told her that his vomit contained blood.
Mrs. Baguio said she sent money for her son’s check-up and a friend, who answered her son’s phone told her that he was already confined at a hospital.
She said she immediately flew to Cebu from Bataan to be with her son, but when she arrived, the latter had already died.
The student’s legs, according to Mrs. Baguio, were “full of wounds and his foot swollen.”
The hospital said Baguio’s death was due to severe acute respiratory distress syndrome secondary to indirect lung Injury, and acute kidney injury secondary to rhabdomyolysis.
Mrs. Baguio said the University of Cebu where her son was enrolled did not provide them financial assistance since the alleged initiation rites took place outside of the school and fraternities were not allegedly allowed by the school.
Mrs. Baguio said she decided to c ome out in the open to help expedite the investigation on her son’s case like the case of Salilig.
“Nananawagan po ako sa mga kapulisan po ng Cebu na kung maari po ay makipag tulungan po tayo para mapabilis po ‘yung kaso ng anak ko, katulad ng dito po sa Cavite po (I am calling on the police in Cebu to help us expedite the investigation of the case of my son, just like here in Cavite),” she said.
Acosta said a complaint has already been prepared but that they are still waiting for the authentication of messages from the victim’s phone, and potential testimonies of other neophytes of the fraternity.
CHED
Commission on Higher Education Chairperson Prospero De Vera condemned the latest incident of hazing to rock the country’s higher education system.
“CHED strongly condemns hazing and all forms of violence in our institutions of higher learning. RA 11053 or the Anti-Hazing Act of 2018 was passed into law on 29 June 2018 to strengthen the enforcement of the Anti-Hazing law. CHED will remain steadfast in its unceasing efforts to rid our higher education institutions of hazing and all forms of senseless acts of violence,” De Vera said in a statement issued more than two days after Salilig’s body was found.
“We urge the police to expedite its own investigation so the proper charges can be filed against the perpetrators,” he added.
While he condoled with Salilig’s family and friends, De Vera also appealed to all higher education institutions to work to ensure that such an incident will not be repeated.
“CHED enjoins all higher education stakeholders to join hands and actively strive to end this culture of violence that continues to plague our institutions of higher learning,” he said.
Earlier, the Adamson University Student Government, the Adamson Chronicle and various student groups urged the university administration to be more transparent on Salilig case and to ensure that those responsible for his death are brought to the bar of justice.
BLACKLIST FRATERNITIES
Acosta meanwhile called for the blacklisting of fraternities which have been involved in activities that violate the provisions of the Anti-Hazing law.
She said school administrators should also be penalized for failing to prevent or supervise the activities of fraternities in their respective institutions.
Acosta also expressed disappointment as some of those involved in fatal hazing incidents have managed to elude life term imprisonment as courts would usually sentence them for reckless imprudence resulting to homicide instead of violation of the Anti-Hazing law.
Reckless imprudence resulting to homicide carries only a maximum penalty of six years.
HAZING-RELATED DEATHS
Research showed that of the 58 who have died due to frat-related hazing or initiation rites since 1954, Tau Gamma Phi is involved in at least 15 cases while Alpha Phi Omega came in at second with six cases.
The first hazing-related death is that of Gonzalo Albert who succumbed after undergoing initiation rites of the UP Upsilon Sigma Phi in 1954, followed by Ferdinand Tabtab of the UP Alpha Phi Omega in 1967.
The third recorded hazing-related death is that of Mel Honasan in 1976.
Honasan is a neophyte of San Sebastian College’s Beta Sigma Fraternity and is a brother of former senator Gregorio Honasan, who is himself a member of UP Alpha Sigma Fraternity.
In 2022, there were two reported deaths due to hazing – that of Reymare Rabutazo of Tau Gamma Phi and August Ceazar Saplot of the University of Mindanao’s chapter of Alpha Kappa Rho.
