Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri called on key government agencies Friday to intensify their public awareness campaigns about the dangers and legal consequences of fraternity hazing.
Zubiri tagged the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), the Department of Education (DepEd), and the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) to lead this effort.
The appeal comes after the recent conviction of those responsible for the hazing death of Horacio Castillo III in 2017 and the death of another 18-year-old student in Nueva Ecija.
In a recent media interview, Zubiri emphasized the importance of an extensive information campaign to inform students and the public about the serious consequences of engaging in the practice of physically hurting neophytes in order to join a brotherhood or fraternity.
“I think (last Tuesday’s) conviction, after seven long years, is something that will really be, I’d say, a deterrence,” said the former Senate President.
Zubiri added that although there was a conviction, the public needs to fully understand the legal ramifications of participating in such heinous acts.
He said Castillo’s killers were convicted under the 1995 Anti-Hazing Law and not under the 2018 version of the statute and, hence, no school official was convicted for the death of the student.
The Bukidnon senator is one of the authors and sponsors of the new law against hazing, saying the issue is very important to him since he was very close to the Castillo family.
“It saddens me. It really was sad that time because the father of Atio Castillo is actually my classmate in San Agustin. His daughter was working for me as an intern when he died. So, just one afternoon I arrived in the office and she was just crying. And she told me that they found a lifeless body of her brother,” he lamented.
“And that really sparked outrage, not only from my office, but everyone else in the whole country. And it was so sad because we had an anti-hazing law, but nothing was happening. So many people were dying due to hazing and yet they were not afraid.”
And although he was glad that 10 members of the fraternity were convicted and sentenced to reclusion perpetua, Zubiri said that school officials should have been punished, too.
“Of course, I empathize with the anger of the family when the school was not held accountable,” the senator said. He noted that since 2018, many young men have died or continue to suffer from hazing, as some fraternities never gave up the tradition of this barbaric practice.
Zubiri noted that, despite the Anti-Hazing Act of 2018, some sectors of the academic community remain reluctant to eradicate hazing practices because many faculty members themselves are members of the alumni of these Greek-lettered organizations or fraternities.
He said he will talk to DepEd Secretary Juan Edgardo Angara and CHED Chairperson Prospero De Vera to at least release a strongly worded memo to schools and universities warning organizations, fraternities and other groups that hazing is a criminal act and will be punished under the law.
“Maybe we should look at the implementing rules and regulations, get the DILG involved, get the CHED involved, get the DepEd involved,” he said.
Zubiri also highlighted the role that educational institutions should play in combating hazing culture, and that CHED or the DILG should be working with universities and colleges to put a stop to hazing.
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