Hazing Death

[chappy92]

Hazing fatality a Bedan; phones, shirt yield clues
By Niña Calleja
PHILIPPINE DAILY INQUIRER 2:30 am | Wednesday, February 22nd, 2012

The man who succumbed to injuries suffered during an alleged fraternity hazing rite in Antipolo City over the weekend was identified on Tuesday as a Freshman Law student of San Beda College Manila.

Police on Tuesday said Marvin Reglos, 25, died wearing a shirt bearing what appeared to be the name of a fraternity, “Lambda Rho Beta,” following the arrest of two law students from another school who are being linked to the crime.

Investigators also seized the two students’ cell phones that had these text messages in Filipino: “News blackout, don’t forget. Erase all messages on your phone regarding the initiation. Don’t answer if asked to name your officers.”

Another message read: “Nobody talks. That’s the order. Erase all messages ASAP. Even this one. You must all obey.”

The messages were sent by one “RJ Gregna.”

The incident drew condemnation on Tuesday from Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, herself a Bedan, who ordered the National Bureau of Investigation to conduct a parallel investigation.

De Lima also sought a review of the antihazing law to ensure that fraternity leaders and not just their underlings are made to answer for such crimes.

Relatives who saw Reglos’ body at Antipolo Memorial Homes could hardly speak in shock when told of the confirmation, said Chief Inspector Zaldy Aquino, deputy head of the Antipolo police.

“They were inconsolable. We have yet to talk to them,” Aquino told the Inquirer on Tuesday.

Reglos was taken to Unciano Medical Center around 3 p.m. on Sunday by a group of men in a red Honda City (WMF-174). When the doctor pronounced him dead on arrival, the men immediately left.

The victim bore bruises all over his body but an injury on his nape initially appeared to be the cause of his death, Aquino said.

Minutes after Reglos was left at the hospital by the unidentified group, two more men arrived and inquired about the victim’s condition.

Police officers who were already at the hospital at that time saw the two men and “became suspicious of them (as they were) rushing to get out of the hospital,” Aquino said.

The two were arrested and later identified as Eric Castillo, 28, and Bodjie Yap, 24, both fourth year law students of San Sebastian College.

Their cell phones seized, Castillo and Yap were held at the Antipolo police headquarters and charged with violation of the antihazing law.

Aquino said Reglos died wearing a shirt bearing the name of the “Lambda Rho Beta Fraternity,” which the officer said has members composed mostly of lawyers and law students.

An unidentified man had also called the police giving the purported names of three Lambda Rho Beta members responsible for the fatal hazing. “But we are still verifying that information,” Aquino said.

The hazing reportedly happened between Saturday night and Sunday noon at Guillen Private Resort, Barangay (village) San Roque.

The resort’s security guard had positively identified Castillo and Yap as among those seen at the resort during that period.—With a report from Philip C. Tubeza

[JobyBryant24]

Brad, mga ganitong balita eh pang Local and Foreign News na.

Eto oh: San Beda College Law Student Dead from Hazing

[kuris5]

grabe kanina ko lang yan nabalitaan. parang anlungkot lungkot sa san beda kanina, nakaitim lahat ng law students at wala sila klase. ayun bumisita nalang din kame sa abbey dahil andun yung namatay

[dashingdevonair]

Why not just impose an absolute ban on all of these fraternities? It's a public secret that all fraternities carry out hazing involving physical violence.

[21guns]

Sabi ng San Beda, hindi raw nila kinikilala ang mga frat na yan sa loob ng campus nila,

talaga lang ha?

eh diba yan din ang frat ng mga notable alumni ng Beda? e.g. de lima

ano kaya magandang gawin para mabuko yang mga fraternities na yan? mahirap kasi hulihin kasi patago na nangyayari yan.

ang mga iba namang nauuto kasi pinapangakuan ng magandang kapit at career, sasali sali sa tinatawag nilang brotherhood tapos bubugbugin ka. anong brotherhood doon? Ni parents nga nila pigil na pigil ang pagpalo gamit ang kamay or belt tapos itong mga "kapatiran" na ito paddle ang pinangpapalo.

jerk.

[JobyBryant24]

I asked my bro and his brad on this hazing thing. Ganun daw talaga eh. Dami nila sinabi and ayaw ko na lang sabihin pa dito baka mamaya dumami pa mga pag-aawayan.

Anyway, imposibleng hindi nila kilala mga FRAT sa BEDA. Now nga me statement na sila na tutulong sila sa PNP and NBI pa ata para maayos to.

[kuris5]

mejo natawa din ako dun sa statement na hindi nila kilala frat sa beda hahahaha nako naman lantad na lantad sa beda ang frat!

[21guns]

^ Yeah, according to news, hindi raw kinikilala ng SBC ang mga frat na merong mga physical ceremonies na ginagawa sa mga members. Basta something like that.

anyway, nangyari na eh.

[kuris5]

pede daw mag civilian bukas para makiramay. white shirts daw hehehehe

[JobyBryant24]

Kalokohan yang hindi kilala. Pero shempre pag sinabing kilala edi sabit talaga Beda dyan. Play safe muna. Esep-esep ng sasabihin sa media.

[dashingdevonair]

What is required on the part of the school is not toleration but active prohibition of these frats! It's no different from a pusher marketing his goods within campus and consummating the sale elsewhere.

The solicitation itself should be penalized and the mere membership to a fraternity prohibited with severe sanctions.

[arizona]

mejo natawa din ako dun sa statement na hindi nila kilala frat sa beda hahahaha nako naman lantad na lantad sa beda ang frat!

When San Beda officials say that the school does not "recognize" fraternities, it means that they do not sanction their existence, activities, etc. unlike official school organizations i.e. gavel club, marketing society, etc. Do not give a literal meaning to the word "recognize" under the given situation.

[arizona]

Why not just impose an absolute ban on all of these fraternities? It's a public secret that all fraternities carry out hazing involving physical violence.

Not legally possible. It would run afoul to the constitutional guarantee of freedom of organization.

Lastly, not all fraternities conduct hazing that involves physical violence.

[arizona]

Sabi ng San Beda, hindi raw nila kinikilala ang mga frat na yan sa loob ng campus nila,

talaga lang ha?

eh diba yan din ang frat ng mga notable alumni ng Beda? e.g. de lima

ano kaya magandang gawin para mabuko yang mga fraternities na yan? mahirap kasi hulihin kasi patago na nangyayari yan.

ang mga iba namang nauuto kasi pinapangakuan ng magandang kapit at career, sasali sali sa tinatawag nilang brotherhood tapos bubugbugin ka. anong brotherhood doon? Ni parents nga nila pigil na pigil ang pagpalo gamit ang kamay or belt tapos itong mga "kapatiran" na ito paddle ang pinangpapalo.

jerk.

They do not "recognize". They did not say they do not know that there are fraternities in San Beda. All law fraternities in San Beda are out in the open. They have various activities well known to the community and they even come out with shirts, car stickers, etc.

There is nothing wrong with fraternities per se. Do not cut the arm because of a bleeding thumb.

[JobyBryant24]

There is nothing wrong witgph fraternities? Seriously?

Then i guess there is nothing wrong with the death of this hazing victim.

[chappy92]

Sabi ng San Beda, hindi raw nila kinikilala ang mga frat na yan sa loob ng campus nila,

talaga lang ha?

eh diba yan din ang frat ng mga notable alumni ng Beda? e.g. de lima

ano kaya magandang gawin para mabuko yang mga fraternities na yan? mahirap kasi hulihin kasi patago na nangyayari yan.

ang mga iba namang nauuto kasi pinapangakuan ng magandang kapit at career, sasali sali sa tinatawag nilang brotherhood tapos bubugbugin ka. anong brotherhood doon? Ni parents nga nila pigil na pigil ang pagpalo gamit ang kamay or belt tapos itong mga "kapatiran" na ito paddle ang pinangpapalo.

jerk.

Brotherhood of blood
Philippine Daily Inquirer10:25 pm | Thursday, February 23rd, 2012

The death of Marvin Reglos, the Law Freshman from San Beda College who died of injuries apparently inflicted during initiation rites of the Lambda Rho Beta fraternity last weekend in Antipolo City, is a shocking reminder that more than 15 years since the Anti-Hazing Law (Republic Act 8049) was enacted, hazing remains a resilient practice among Greek-letter fraternities in the country.

Reglos, 25, died wearing a shirt bearing the name of the fraternity, apparently an inter-law school group. Since arrested for his death were Eric Castillo, 28, and Bodjie Yap, 24, both fourth-year law students from San Sebastian College on Recto Avenue, just a stone’s throw away from San Beda on Mendiola Street. The two had gone to the Unciano Medical Center to inquire about Reglos, who was brought in earlier by an unidentified group, and were immediately seized by police. Reglos bore bruises all over his body but doctors said an injury on his nape appeared to be the cause of his death. Relatives who identified his body were shocked at the sight of him lifeless and beaten to a pulp.

Ironically, the incident came on the heels of the Supreme Court writing finis to the Lenny Villa case of 21 summers ago. The tribunal overruled the Court of Appeals, which in 2002 found only two accused—Aquila Legis fraternity members Fidelito Dizon and Artemio Villareal—guilty of homicide and the rest merely liable of slight physical injuries for Villa’s death in 1991. But the high court also set aside the homicide conviction of Dizon and instead found him guilty of the lesser offense of reckless imprudence resulting in homicide. The rest of Dizon’s cohorts were found guilty of the same offense and sentenced to imprisonment of up to four years and two months. If the Anti-Hazing Law had been in effect in 1991 (it was enacted only in 1995), Dizon et al. would have been convicted of hazing and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Although hazing is by no means confined to law-school fraternities, it is significant that both the Ateneo Aquila Legis and San Beda Lambda Rho Beta incidents involved law students. In the Lenny Villa case, the high court cited the testimony before the lower court of an Aquila Legis neophyte that he had joined the fraternity to have more friends and to avail himself of the benefits it offered, such as tips useful for the bar exam. Membership in a fraternity provides the aspiring lawyer a ticket to success in the law profession. The exclusivity of the profession thereby becomes a goad for young people to join fraternities and undergo the rigors of initiation, including violence. Having passed the initiation, the neophyte becomes a full-fledged member of the fraternity, part of the old boys’ network.

It is this elitism and culture of entitlement that may explain the resilience of hazing as a law-fraternity practice despite RA 8049. Indeed, in the Antipolo incident, those arrested knew they had violated the law. When Reglos was brought to the hospital and pronounced dead on arrival, they prepared to bury the evidence. Police seized the cell phones of Castillo and Yap and found there text messages sent by one RJ Gregna: “News blackout, don’t forget. Erase all messages on your phone regarding the initiation. Don’t answer if asked to name your officers.” Another message read: “Nobody talks. That’s the order. Erase all messages ASAP. Even this one. You must all obey.”

It’s quite appalling that law aspirants—and members of the bar who are, after all, the alumni officers of fraternities—are training their knowledge of the law on undermining the law and getting around it. But as the text messages show, fraternities cultivate what appear to be values at first blush, but which upon a closer look turn out to be ways of behavior that foster flagrant lawlessness and impunity, such as blind loyalty (“Don’t answer if asked to name your officers”), conspiracy of silence (“Nobody talks”), and blind obedience (“You must all obey”).

In its decision on the Lenny Villa case, the Supreme court expressed astonishment “how men wittingly—or unwittingly—impose the misery of hazing and employ appalling rituals in the name of brotherhood.” It added: “There must be a better way to establish ‘kinship.’” But “the misery of hazing,” its inherent violence, is what exactly drives the brotherhood. The tribunal itself agreed with the lower court ruling that there was no criminal intent in the Ateneo Aquila Legis hazing and that the violent acts “were done pursuant to tradition.” Violence has become a tradition in the Greek-letter fraternity, a twisted brotherhood bathed in blood.

[dashingdevonair]

Not legally possible. It would run afoul to the constitutional guarantee of freedom of organization.

Lastly, not all fraternities conduct hazing that involves physical violence.

La Salle has been doing it for years and the same policy is being implemented in its College of Law.

Besides, the constitutional protections are only applicable to the state, not affairs between private individuals and entities.

[JobyBryant24]

^Sir kelan lang nagkarooon ng LAW ang DLSU ah.

[arizona]

La Salle has been doing it for years and the same policy is being implemented in its College of Law.

Besides, the constitutional protections are only applicable to the state, not affairs between private individuals and entities.

Whatever you do there in Taft is not the concern of SBC.

Probably you mean only applicable "against" the state. The state cannot invoke the bill of rights. But then again, you are wrong. Not all the provisions in the bill of rights are applicable only against the state.

[arizona]

There is nothing wrong witgph fraternities? Seriously?

Then i guess there is nothing wrong with the death of this hazing victim.

Your premise is wrong that is why your conclusion is also erroneous.

Not all fraternities uses hazing to accept new members. To outlaw all fraternity, as I said before, is to cut off an arm because of a bleeding thumb.