2 Aquile Legis fratmen nabbed
By DJ Yap, Arlyn dela Cruz
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 05:47:00 10/04/2008
MANILA, Philippines – Two members of a fraternity based at the Ateneo de Manila Law School were arrested Thursday night for allegedly beating up a law student belonging to a rival organization at a mall parking lot in Makati City Thursday night.
Jon Anton Daryl Chua, son of Quezon City Sports Club president Antonio Chua, and Cyrus Valenzuela, a lawyer of the Optical Media Board, spent the night behind bars at the Makati Police Headquarters after they allegedly mauled Raphael Augusto Jose, 23. They were later released after posting bail.
Their fraternity brothers, however, said the arrests were illegal and their detention arbitrary, and indicated their intention to file counter-charges against the police.
Chua, 25, who had just taken the bar examinations, and Valenzuela, 31, are members of the Aquila Legis fraternity. Jose belongs to the Fraternal Order of Utopia.
Based on Jose’s complaint, the incident occurred at the P-1 Parking Level of the Power Plant Mall at about 9:47 p.m.
Jose told investigators that he, his brother Frederick and friend Gino Jacinto were about to board their car when they saw Valenzuela and Chua approach, the latter holding a beer bottle.
After an exchange of heated words, Chua allegedly began hitting Jose’s face and head with the beer bottle, a report by the case investigator PO3 Jason David said.
“Thereon, suspects Jon Anton Chua and Cyrus Valenzuela helped one another in mauling (Jose) and causing him to fall on the pavement,” the report said.
Jose told the police they immediately asked for help from security guards, but the two got away. When Jose’s group was on their way to the security office to have the incident recorded, they saw the suspects inside a restaurant and sought the assistance of police officers who arrested the two on the spot, David added. The policeman said the two suspects chose to stay silent during questioning.
But Chua’s father, Antonio, a businessman, said his son told him a different story.
“This is just going to be ‘he said, I said,’ but this is what my son told me: There was a rumble between the four of them: two Aquila, two Utopia,” he said, though he could not confirm if the second Utopia member was Jose’s brother Frederick or his friend Jacinto.
Antonio said it was not a beating since the two pairs inflicted injuries on each other and his son also sustained minor bruises and cuts. Asked what could have caused the fight, Antonio said it was very likely related to fraternity issues.
“My son told me that they settled the fight, that it was finished. Then 30 minutes later and they were having dinner at a restaurant, here come the police,” he said in an interview at the Makati police headquarters.
He said he could not understand why it took so long for the police to lodge a complaint, and why they had to detain the two overnight. “If there’s a case against my son, then file it. If there’s prima facie evidence, let the fiscal decide,” Antonio said, adding that he would consult a lawyer about the next possible course of action.
David, however, said the arrests were properly made and that detention was the legal and typical course in such cases.
At the Makati Police Office and at the Makati Fiscal’s Office, lawyers identified with the two fraternities came in full force. Jose is a member of Utopia whose members include Supreme Court Justice Renato Corona, Rep. Mikey Arroyo and Mandaluyong City Mayor Benhur Abalos.
Chua and Valenzuela, on the other hand, count on former Vice President Teofisto Guingona, House Speaker Jose Nograles, and Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya as frat brothers.
The initial disposition of the case fell on the shoulders of Assistant City Prosecutor Allene C. Torres-Peña, a San Sebastian College graduate who said she survived law school without joining a sorority. “Napaka-simple ng kaso, but a battery of lawyers arrived from both sides,” she said.
“There is a process and I made a recommendation based on the merits of the complaint. No pressure from any side,” Peña added. Said Makati Police Chief Supt. Gilbert Cruz: “We did not take sides. We treated them fairly.”
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