‘Very emotional’ witness tags frat brothers in Atio Castillo case

A “very emotional” Marc Anthony Ventura took the witness stand on Tuesday and identified 10 of his fellow Aegis Juris fraternity members who were allegedly involved in the fatal hazing of University of Santo Tomas law student, Horacio “Atio” Castillo III.

Ventura, the first prosecution witness to be presented in court, was initially calm and composed when he narrated what happened during the initiation rites on Sept. 16, 2017.

But when it was nearly time for him to identify the accused, he was teary-eyed, said Carmina Castillo, the victim’s mother, who was at the hearing.

“He did not exactly break down but he was reduced to tears. He was very emotional,” she added.

As Ventura identified the suspects, they were asked to stand in court —Ralph Trangia, Robin Ramos, Jose Miguel Salamat, Danielle Hans Matthew Rodrigo, Marcelino Bagtang, Arvin Balag, Mhin Wei Chan, Axel Munro Hipe, Oliver John Audrey Onofre and Joshua Joriel Macabali.

Carmina said that as she and her husband listened to Ventura, images of her son collapsing and dying played in her head.

“I kept asking myself, why didn’t they bring him to the hospital? Maybe we wouldn’t be here; maybe my son would still be alive,” she said.