Minnie and Toti Castillo, parents of Horacio “Atio” Castillo, a 22-year-old freshman law student who died after incurring injuries from hazing-related violence, still recall the opening statement made by Sen. Panfilo Lacson, then-chairman of the Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs, in the Senate Hearing on September 25, 2017.
“I would like to extend my sincerest condolences to the family and loved ones of Atio Castillo. By all accounts, Atio was an exceptionally kind young man who pursued his dream of becoming a lawyer with passion of diligence. Unfortunately, this promising young life was cut short before he could even finish his first semester of law school. He will never have the opportunity to proudly show his parents his final exam scores in Constitutional law or Persons and Family Relations. He will never graduate from law school or take the bar. He will never take the lawyer’s oath or sign his name on the Roll of Attorneys. These dreams are forever gone, buried beneath the soil alongside Atio’s bruised and blackened body. Perhaps, in death, Atio may still make a groundbreaking impact on the law after.
“As Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. once said: The life of the law has not been logic; it has been experience.
“It is my sincere hope that the crushing tragedy experienced by Atio and his family will spark real change serving as the catalyst for the passage of legal reforms that will stamp out the sick evil of hazing, once and for all. Atio’s legacy to the law will endure if we can ensure that his death will truly be the last.”
This tragic hazing incident that resulted in the death of Atio two years ago on September 16, 2017, in the hands of his fraternity, UST’s Aegis Juris fraternity, led to the passage of Republic Act 11053 or the Anti-Hazing law of 2018. RA 11053 mandated an outright ban on all forms of hazing and regulated other forms of initiation rites of fraternities, sororities and other organizations. Under Section 2 of RA 11053, hazing, initiation, organizations and schools are defined as follows:
“[a] Hazing refers to any act that results in physical or psychological suffering, harm, or injury inflicted on a recruit, neophyte, applicant, or member as part of an initiation rite or practice made as a prerequisite for admission or a requirement for continuing membership in a fraternity, sorority, or organization, including, but not limited to, paddling, whipping, beating, branding, forced consumption of any food, liquor, beverage, drug or other substance, or any other brutal treatment or forced physical activity which is, likely, to adversely affect the physical and psychological health of such recruit, neophyte, applicant, or member. This shall also include any activity, intentionally made or, otherwise, by one person alone or acting with others, that tends to humiliate or embarrass, degrade, abuse, or endanger, by requiring a recruit, neophyte, applicant, or member to do menial, silly or foolish tasks.
“[b] Initiation or initiation rites refer to ceremonies, practices, rituals, or other acts, whether formal or informal, that a person must perform or take part in order to be accepted into a fraternity, sorority, or organization as a full-fledged member. It includes ceremonies, practices, rituals, and other acts in all stages of membership in fraternity, sorority or organization.
“[c] Organization refers to an organized body of people which includes, but is not limited to, any club association, group, fraternity and sorority. This terms shall include the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the Philippine National Police, the Philippine Military Academy, the Philippine National Police Academy, and other similar unformed service learning institutions.
“[d] Schools refer to colleges, universities and all other educational institutions.”
Penalties imposed for violation of RA 11053 include the penalty of reclusion perpetua and a fine of P1 million to P3 million (Section 14).
Despite this new Anti-Hazing law, violators remain undeterred and blatantly disregard the law with impunity in the guise of brotherhood and strengthening fraternal bonds. The recent death of Darwin Dormitorio, a 20-year-old Philippine Military Academy plebe and other similar hazing incidents have prompted the filing of Senate Bill 1091 by Sen. Juan Miguel F. Zubiri and House Bill 4922 by Rep. Rufus Rodriguez. These bills seek to “recognize hazing as a heinous crime, amending for the purpose RA 7659, as amended, otherwise known as the Death Penalty law.” Under RA 7659, heinous crimes include treason, piracy in general and mutiny on the high seas in Philippine waters, qualified piracy, qualified bribery, parricide, murder, infanticide, kidnapping and serious illegal detention, robbery with violence against or intimidation of persons, destructive arson, rape, plunder, and importation, distribution, manufacturing and possession of illegal drugs. These crimes are considered heinous under RA 7659 “for being grievous, odius and hateful offenses and which by reason of their inherent or manifest wickedness, viciousness, atrocity and perversity are repugnant and outrageous to the common standards and norms of decency and morality in a just, civilized and ordered society.”
After the abolition of the death penalty by RA 9436 in 2006 under then-President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, heinous crimes became punishable by Reclusion Perpetua (20 years to 40 years). With the ongoing controversy on whether heinous crimes should be excluded from the good conduct time allowance (GCTA) law, the recent deaths from hazing should be considered. A culture of impunity cannot be awarded with pardon, parole or commutation of sentence.
One more death from hazing is one death too many!