UP frat man’s expulsion urged

The wheels are now turning for an administrative complaint filed against one of the suspects in the June 18 fraternity-related attacks on the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman campus.

In a letter sent to the lawyers of the victims, Jonathan O. Sarte, chief legal counsel of the University of the East Ramon Magsaysay Memorial Medical Center (UERMMMC) accepted the complaint against one of the school’s medical students, sophomore Rudolf Gene Carlo Neral, a UP alumnus and member of the Upsilon Sigma Phi fraternity.

On Aug. 4, the victims filed a complaint in the Office of the Dean of the UERMMMC College of Medicine, seeking Neral’s expulsion for his involvement in the incident and for violating the school’s rules on student conduct and discipline.

The complaint was signed by UP students and Alpha Sigma fraternity members Jesus Blas Vitangcol, Joevie de la Cruz, Mario Andrefanio Santos II, Jorge Eustaquio and Ernesto Luis Martino Pangalangan III, and their lawyer Amado Danilo Tayag.

Neral was one of five Upsilon Sigma Phi members arrested by UP policemen for allegedly attacking members of rival Alpha Sigma fraternity on the campus. They now face multiple charges in the Quezon City courts.

In his letter to Tayag dated Aug. 6, Sarte said the complaint against Neral “has been referred to the Committee on Student Affairs and Board of Discipline for medical students.”

“A copy of your letter complaint will be served on the respondent and he will be asked to answer in writing,”  Sarte added.