SEVEN years to resolve an ordinary criminal case may be considered as speedy under the Philippine justice system. And so many were relieved that the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 11 came up with a decision convicting members of Aegis Juris fraternity, who were involved in the fatal hazing of University of Santo Tomas (UST) civil law freshman Horacio “Atio” Castillo III in 2017.
Sentenced to reclusion perpetua or 20-40 years of imprisonment were the following: Mhin Wei Chan, Jose Miguel Salamat, John Robin Ramos, Marcelino Bagtang Jr., Arvin Balag, Ralph Trangia, Axel Munro Hipe, Oliver Onofre, Joshua Macabali and Hans Matthew Rodrigo.
The first conviction in the case occurred in 2019 when John Paul Solano, who transported Atio Castillo to the Chinese General Hospital, was found guilty by the Manila Metropolitan Court Branch 14 of obstructing justice. He received a prison sentence of two to four years.
‘As law students, the convicts knew the criminal nature of hazing and the punishment that goes with it … Yet, they pushed their luck, upheld the frat’s tradition of violence and false sense of loyalty and unbridled power, thus the prison term of life imprisonment.’
The court also ordered the 10 accused to pay penalties of P461,800 as actual expenses, P75,000 as civil indemnity, P75,000 as moral damages and P75,000 as exemplary damages.
Castillo would have been a lawyer but his young life was snuffed at the final initiation rites for admission into the fraternity on Sept. 16, 2017. He sustained several paddle hits from his brothers as part of the group’s initiation rites and an autopsy report established the cause of death as “severe blunt traumatic injuries.”
Atio’s death, however pitiful and unfortunate, at least resulted in several investigations by law enforcement bodies and the Senate, which Aegis Juris members and UST Law Dean Nilo Divina participated in.
The case also became the reason for the passage of Republic Act 11053, also known as the Anti-Hazing Law of 2018, which revises RA 8049, the initial anti-hazing legislation enacted in 1995, in response to demands for stricter penalties for offenders.
The new law provides that mere involvement in hazing, even without directly participating in the physical harm, makes an individual liable for violating the law. Violators will face stricter penalties of 12 to 17 years imprisonment, and a fine of P1 million on participating officers and members of the fraternity, sorority or organization if proven guilty.
The 10 convicts had tried to seek dismissal of the case, claiming that Castillo died of heart enlargement, not hazing, but this was junked by the court. Even the Court of Appeals denied a petition for review filed by one of the respondents.
As law students, the convicts knew the criminal nature of hazing and the punishment that goes with it, especially when a human life is lost. Yet, they pushed their luck, upheld the frat’s tradition of violence and false sense of loyalty and unbridled power, thus the prison term of life imprisonment.
May this serve as a stern warning to all young men and women in our universities, colleges and communities.
