FIRST SAY:
Compared to the $8 B US aid to Taiwan, the $500 M "alms" to PH is not even good enough to console an "ally" willing to share Taiwan's risks in allowing additional EDCA sites in Northern Luzon to help facilitate movement of US war materiel and logistics in case of a China invasion.
--Panfilo "Ping" Lacson, from X
---o0o---
The courts (Court of Appeals, Manila RTC and Manila MTC) have spoken and there seems to be nothing else to do but commit the Aegis Juris Ten to the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa after the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 11 found them guilty of the fatal hazing of Horacio "Atio" Castillo III in 2017.
Castillo was then a freshman at the University of Santo Tomas (UST) College of Civil Law when his life and a promising law career both ended by powerful and horrific paddle hits from men he ironically chose to be his fraternity brothers.
Last Oct. 1, the Regional Trial Court Branch 11 in Manila found the 10 Aegis Juris fratmen guilty of violating the Anti-Hazing Law of 1995 in connection with Castillo's death.
Convicted and sentenced to reclusion perpetua or 20-40 years of imprisonment: 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 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.
The frat men have been in the Manila City jail since Mary 2018 after the Manila court ordered their arrest.
The first conviction in the hazing death case occurred in 2019 when John Paul Solano, who transported Atio to the Chinese General Hospital, was found guilty of obstructing justice by the Manila Metropolitan Court Branch 14. He received a prison sentence of two to four years.
The last time I heard about the Atio Castillo case was during the Covid-19 pandemic when several of the detained suspects asked the court to release them because the congestion and unfavorable condition at the Manila City Jail put them at risk of contracting Covid.
This petition was denied by the court.
---o0o---
We say that even with the final closure given by the courts, the case of Atio Castillo will live in our collective memory.
This is because the parents of the young man said that UST and its officials have "failed to protect" their son.
Castillo's parents, Horacio Castillo Jr. and Carmina Castillo, made the statement after securing a conviction against the Aegis Juris Ten.
"I think it's about time heads should roll in UST," Horacio Castillo Jr., the father of Atio, said in an interview with reporters following the promulgation of his son's case.
"They should have prevented the hazing, the crime of hazing, from happening… Now we are very happy. We have gotten our conviction. We would like, maybe, to ask Dean [Nilo] Divina, what can you say about this?" he added.
Divina Law's Divina, the university's law school dean, debunked the statement by Atio's parents that he and UST failed to protect their son.
"The university and the faculty have always implemented and upheld policies that promote the safety and welfare of all students. Unfortunately, no institution is spared from the actions of individuals who choose to disregard these measures," Divina said.
He added that they "remain committed to ensuring a safe environment and continuously improving our efforts to prevent a repetition of such a tragedy."
The relevant question to ask at this time is how deep is UST's commitment in ensuring a safe campus environment.
If until now there exists fraternities in the mold of Aegis Juris in the university, then Divina's assurances are "ampaw."
Divina simply lacks empathy to the plight of the Castillos. If the dean of civil law is like this, what should we make of the silence of the dean of canon law at UST?
There is life outside the walls of the seminary, and life as I know it, is hard along P. Noval and Espana.
Atio is dead but his story will live in our collective memory.
--o0o--
It should be noted that in the same year of Castillo’s death, a new law banning all forms of hazing was passed.
Republic Act 11053, also known as the Anti-Hazing Law of 2018, revises Republic Act 8049, the initial anti-hazing legislation enacted in 1995, in response to demands for stricter penalties for offenders.
Under the revised anti-hazing law, 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.
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