The death of another student in a fraternity initiation rite has led Senior Citizens party list Representative Rodolfo Ordanes to urge the government to treat hazing not only as a heinous crime, but also as an organized crime.
“The Philippine National Police and the National Bureau of Investigation should treat hazing cases as organized crimes because they are perpetrated in methodical and organized ways. Hazing is not mere murder committed by people. Every incident is committed by organized groups with well-defined hierarchy, roles, and financial capacity and resources,” Ordanes stressed.
Like the rest of the nation, he is enraged at the loss of the life of yet another college student, Mark Kenneth Alcedo, a 19-year-old maritime student at the Philippine Nautical and Technological Colleges in Dasmariñas City, who died following initiation rites of the Tau Gamma Phi fraternity.
“As a member of the House committee on public order and safety, I am calling on the PNP, NBI, and the Department of the Interior and Local Government to treat hazing as an organized crime,” he stressed.
According to him, if the recommendation is followed, then fraternities that carry out hazing should be treated as criminal syndicates.
“This Tau Gamma Phi fraternity has been involved in too many hazing incidents. They should have been treated as a criminal syndicate a long time ago,” he said.
He also suggested that the Securities and Exchange Commission “immediately suspend or revoke the registration of Tau Gamma Phi as a non-profit association,” and recommended that fraternities and their chapters register with the DILG as well as with the city and town governments.
Ordanes said barangays, cities, towns, and the DILG are grossly negligent because they do not have registries and databases of fraternities, even if these groups are required to register in areas where they operate. He suspects that it is because public and police officials are likely fraternity members as well.
In addition, he said school administrators and the Commission on Higher Education should also be held accountable, as the former evades liability and accountability by simply not recognizing fraternities, and the latter does not assume administrative responsibility over school-based fraternities that are not recognized by colleges and universities. “These horrendous behaviors are institutional cowardice,” Ordanes said.
If hazing has killed too many Filipino youth despite efforts to stop it, it is mostly because the authorities have been too easy on the organizations that have been holding on to their barbaric and heinous tradition that equates inflicting maximum pain and humiliation with loyalty and brotherhood.
Treating hazing as an organized crime, suspending SEC registration of organizations involved in it, requiring fraternities to register with LGUs and schools, are measures that our authorities should consider if they are truly serious about ending hazing deaths in this country. Our public officials should prioritize their obligation to the common good instead of their ties with fraternities, especially those that have been involved in hazing deaths.*
