Malacañang creates anti-hazing task forceBy Kristine Angeli Sabillo |INQUIRER.net 8:18 pm | Monday, September 1st, 2014

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Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa file photo

MANILA, Philippines – Malacañang on Monday announced that an inter-agency task force has been created to bolster the Anti-Hazing Law amid continued incidents of fraternity violence.

Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa has signed Memorandum Circular No. 68 to “step up government’s response to fraternity violence and strengthen the implementation of the Anti-Hazing Law (Republic Act No. 8049),” a Presidential News Desk report said.

“The task force seeks to address the need to ensure that there is justice for hazing fatalities and their families. At the same time, we have to look at whether the law can be improved so that its objectives are met,” Ochoa said in the statement.

Justice Secretary Leila De Lima will lead the task force and will be given “full executive authority,” which includes giving “direct operational instructions” to member agencies including the Department of National Defense (DND), the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), the Commission on Higher Education (CHEd), the Philippine National Police (PNP), the National Youth Commission (NYC) and the Office of the Deputy Executive Secretary for Legal Affairs.

The Task Force will not only review the Anti-Hazing Law but will also formulate policies for the coordination and monitoring of related programs that will hopefully prevent hazing fatalities. It will also be required to submit a regular report to the Office of the President.

Last June, a College of St. Benilde student died due to injuries caused by hazing while another fraternity neophyte from the University of the Philippines spent a week in the hospital after taking a similar beating during his initiation rites.

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Lawmaker: Loopholes in Anti-Hazing Law tolerates violence 1

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By John Carlo Cahinhinan

Saturday, July 5, 2014

A LAWMAKER said loopholes in the anti-hazing law has resulted in the continued proliferation of fraternity-related violence in the country.

Kabataan Party-list Representative Terry Ridon said loopholes such as the exclusion of community fraternities and sororities from the authorities has rendered the law toothless and contributed to the continued practice of violent initiation rites that resulted in the death of De La Salle-College of St. Benilde student Guillo Servando.

"Despite the existence of a 19-year-old Anti-Hazing Law, such acts of violence continue to proliferate without a single conviction," Ridon said.

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Servando has been added to the long list of hazing victims, which include San Beda students Marc Andrei Ramos and Marvin Reglos, and University of the Philippines (UP) students Alex Icasiano and Cris Mendez, all of whom have yet to attain justice for their deaths.

In 1995, Congress passed into law Republic Act (RA) 8049 or the Anti-Hazing Law, in the light of the death of Leni Villa, a law student from Ateneo de Manila who similarly died from hazing.

The law defined hazing as "an initiation rite or practice as a prerequisite for admission into membership in a fraternity, sorority or organization by placing the recruit, neophyte or applicant in some embarrassing or humiliating situations such as forcing him or her to do menial, silly, foolish and similar tasks or activities or otherwise subjecting him or her to physical or psychological suffering or injury."

Ridon said he will again file a resolution calling for the review of the Anti-Hazing Law on Monday.

"The review of RA 8049 is long overdue. Congress should revisit this law, and address issues that have made its full implementation difficult and have rendered RA 8049 inutile," Ridon said.

Meanwhile, Valenzuela City Representative Sherwin Gatchalian criticized the reluctance of university administrators to cooperate with police authorities in their investigation of violent hazing incidents, particularly the case of Servando.

Gatchalian said the Makati City police have already obtained the names of two prime suspects in the death of Servando based on the statements taken from one of the three other neophytes who underwent violent hazing in the hands of the Tau Gamma Phi fraternity chapter at the DLS-CSB.

Two of the suspects were identified as Cody Errol Morales, 22, said to be the Lord GT (Grand Triskelion) of the TGP-DLS-CSB chapter and Pope Bautista who is the fraternity secretary. Six other Tau Gamma Phi frat men were identified only by their nicknames: Emeng, who is said to be the master initiator; Navoa, Rey Jay, Mike, Kurt and Louie.

The administration of DLS-CSB, however have refused to cooperate with police investigators, who are asking for the records of Morales and Bautista as part of the ongoing probe to determine who were responsible for the death of Servando.

"The fact that Benilde officials want a court order before they give records of students involved in the Servando case is an indication of their refusal to be accountable in fraternity-related incidents," said Gatchalian said.

He noted that this was the same attitude by UP officials who have remained mum on the case of a 17-year-old UP student who was hospitalized for two days after undergoing initiation rites in the hands of members of Upsilon Sigma Phi inside a building in Quezon City.

The UP Diliman administration has issued a statement confirming that there was a "fraternity incident" but said it was not giving details pending an investigation.

The legislator observed that whenever there are incidents of violent hazing involving their students, the standard reply of school administrators is that they prohibit fraternities and they discourage students from joining such groups.

"Educational institutions should be held accountable in case neophytes suffer physical harm or worse, death. Parents entrust their children’s safety to school authorities, who should be able to monitor what is happening in their own backyard and be liable for any trouble, especially hazing," Gatchalian said.

The lawmaker is pushing to repeal the Anti-Hazing Law and is proposing a bill that hopes to put an end to the practice of violent hazing, which has resulted in several deaths of promising young students.

He noted that the law has not been effective in putting a stop to violent hazing and it does not hold accountable school administrators whenever injuries and death results from initiation rites conducted by fraternities.

"The so-called Anti-Hazing Law is a misnomer. It does not prohibit hazing but only regulates it. We need a new law that will put an end to violent hazing which has caused the senseless death of Guillo Cesar Servando and serious injuries to a UP-Diliman student," said Gatchalian.

He said schools should be able to monitor what is happening in their own backyard and be liable for any trouble, especially hazing, the lawmaker said.

The lawmaker is pushing to repeal the Anti-Hazing Law and is proposing a bill that hopes to put an end to the practice of violent hazing, which has resulted to several deaths of promising young students.

He said the law has not been effective in putting a stop to violent hazing and it does not hold accountable school administrators whenever injuries and death results from initiation rites conducted by fraternities. (Sunnex)

Legarda: Amend Anti-Hazing Law to Increase Awareness and Accountability

"Hazing has laid claim to many lives, and will continue to do so unless we take concerted action," Senator Loren Legarda said today in a privilege speech where she called to amend RA 8049 or the Anti-Hazing Law.

"These tragic, untimely deaths prove that hazing remains a serious problem in fraternities, sororities, and other organizations in the country. The Anti-Hazing Law in its current incarnation is evidently not enough," she explained.

"We are called upon by the Filipino people to act on these tragedies. Let us advocate heightened awareness and participation among all stakeholders, and reestablish accountability among fraternities, sororities, organizations, and administrators of universities and colleges alike," she emphasized.

She suggested that careful research should be conducted on effective administrative practices to regulate fraternities, sororities, and organizations should be conducted.

"Banning these student endeavors will only result in driving them underground, making it harder for them to be monitored. Alternatives should be sought and implemented immediately," she added.

Legarda, expressing indignation over the recent hazing-related death of San Beda College of Law freshman Mark Andre Marcos, also reiterated her call to ensure that perpetrators of hazing are held accountable.

"There is a need to revisit the current policy of regulation under the Anti-Hazing Law given its failure to deter violence and the apparent audacity by which these fraternities and sororities and their officers and members perpetrate violence without regard to the existing mandate of the law," she concluded.