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Fraternities and hazing

The good news is that ten Aegis Juris frat men were convicted to life imprisonment for the 2017 hazing death of 22-year-old University of Santo Tomas law student Horacio “Atio” Castillo III.

The bad news is that this week, hazing claimed another victim, as 18-year-old Ren Joseph Bayan reportedly died in the hands of people who were going to be his “brothers.” The suspected fraternity is Tau Gamma Phi in Nueva Ecija, and the timing of these two developments that are fraternity hazing related tells us that just like cockroaches, the macho culture of extremely violent hazing will not go away easily.

If you come to think of it, had the news of Atio’s killers’ conviction come a week earlier, would the killers of Ren Joseph have stopped their scheduled tradition of beating fellow human beings to a pulp so their willing victims can earn the right to call them “brad”? I don’t think so because most hazing enthusiasts probably don’t think they will be the ones who will be able to kill someone, yet again, with a paddle.

While they may hesitate a little bit, especially if they just heard of the news of the conviction to life imprisonment of 10 frat boys for inflicting death through hazing, I don’t think they will forego tradition and let go of the opportunity to violently beat up a defenseless plebe in the name of brotherhood.

I am not a very social animal so I do not understand the allure of fraternities. But for many, the promise of a brotherhood where connections can help your academic and social life, and maybe even supercharge your future career, is too tempting to resist. If the price for all these advantages and benefits is a few weeks of embarrassment and a night of pain with a slight chance of death, there are enough desperate kids who are willing to pay it. After all, don’t we all have a slight chance of death every time we go out?

What makes fraternities worse is that many of them are connected to the legal community, which can give you an idea of just how messed up our lawyers can be. The frat that killed Atio was one of lawyers, as are many of the frats that have blood on their hands. What kind of moral compass does a group of people have when they can do things that they know by training is illegal and immoral, yet they prioritize their traditions over everything else? If they were a bunch of idiots by training, it would be more understandable, but they are mostly smart and rational people, which makes them more evil than stupid.

Atio’s parents, Horacio and Carmina, attended the promulgation of the case and expressed relief at the verdict. However, they were not done and still called out the negligence of the UST for allowing fraternities and hazings, urging the university to reassess its policies and for heads to roll. This makes sense because law schools remain the richest recruiting grounds for many of the country’s fraternities, and the administrators and deans, who are most likely frat members themselves, should be more or less aware of what happens as far as these frats are involved.

If the tradition of violent fraternity hazing is going to be eliminated, the reform has to be system wide because Atio was killed by more than just 10 frat boys. While he ultimately died at the hands of his fake brothers, it was because everyone who was supposed to protect him had failed.

Let’s admit it. The conviction of 10 frat boys for a hazing death is not going to completely discourage monsters from equating violence with their sick concept of brotherhood. If we are going to prevent more hazing deaths, those who should be prosecuted and penalized should be more than those who were at the crime scene. First and foremost should be the fraternity’s senior leadership, along with the schools and organizations that are aware of the activities of such fraternities within their scope. They don’t have to be sentenced to life in prison, but hefty fines and a criminal record that will make their NBI clearance and Visa applications light up like a Filipino Christmas tree in September should make these senior members of fraternities to act with dispatch to stop their beloved tradition of inflicting violence on defenseless victims that their underlings scam into risking their lives, for the sake of their sick sense of tradition.

Unless our government that is most likely chock full of frat men at the highest levels, shows its fangs and decides to really go after the fraternities and its support systems that have allowed so many unnecessary deaths to take place, this will not stop. As Ren Joseph’s recent death proved, it never stopped with Atio. A lot more has to be done if we are going to put an end to the scourge of fraternities and their violent and deadly tradition of hazing.*

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