8 SOCIETY
FOR BROTHERHOOD, FOR SISTERHOOD
Acceptance is something youths nowadays value greatly. The question is: how far are they willing to go for it? BY KATRINA TRISH C. ISIDERIO / PHOTOGRAPH BY chomin q. aberasturi
ce Bernabe Ekid, Edward Domingo, Monico de Guzman, Fernando Balidoy, Rafael Root Albano III, Emerson Berry Jr., Mark Welson Chua, Dan Robert Talibutab, Marlon Villanueva, Clark Anson Silverio, Jan Angelo Dollete, Cris Anthony Mendez, Karl Anthony Gaudicos, Elvin Sinaluan, John Daniel Samparanda, Glacy Monique Dimaranan, Noel Borja jr., E.J. Karl Intia, Marvin Reglos, Marc Andre Marcos, John Mark Dugan, and finally, Guillo Cesar Servando. These are the reported deaths and victims of hazing in the Philippines since 2000. Had the list included unreported ones, it would have gone on longer. By definition, hazing is an initiation process involving harassment. By tradition, it is how one proves his or her loyalty to a fraternity or sorority; enduring it shows just how willing a person is to be part of the brotherhood or sisterhood. These organizations, however, have been secretive for decades, and along with them, the act of hazing has been kept from public eye as well. But the death of 18 year old Guillo Servando, a student from De La Salle – College of Saint Benilde (DLS-CSB), last June 28, 2014 at the hands of members of Tau Gamma Phi, has brought into attention the fact that hazing is active in the Philippines, and that its consequences have yet to be given due justice. Republic Act 8049, or the Anti-Hazing Law, was passed by Congress in 1995 in light of the death of hazing victim Leni Villa, a student from Ateneo de Manila University. Under this law, it is stated that “no physical violence be employed by anybody” during initiation rites; any act of hazing leading or resulting to death, rape, sodomy or mutilation
is punishable with a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. The existence of the 19 year old law, however, did not stop acts of hazing, many of which go unpunished. According to Representative Terry Ridon of the Kabataan party list, this is because the Anti-Hazing law has loopholes which make it useless. “The exclusion of community fraternities and sororities from the mandate of the law, and the exemption of hazing activities perpetrated by military and police training institutions from its coverage, has rendered the law toothless and contributed to the continued practice of violent initiation rites,” Ridon said. Suggestions to review Republic Act 8049 has been pushed