THE BODY of a University of Makati (UMak) student, believed to be a victim of hazing, was turned over to Makati Police Friday after it was recovered by the provincial police from a ravine in Sta. Maria, Laguna province over the weekend.

Senior. Supt. Gilbert Cruz, Laguna provincial police director said the body of EJ Karl Intia, 19, was retrieved from a 30 meter-deep ravine in Barangay (village) Laurel on the afternoon of Aug. 15, after a resident reported to authorities that a dead body was found in the area.

Cruz said Intia, clad in denim pants and brown shirt, bore bruises ?concentrated in the legs. There were also wounds and scratches on the face, which he probably sustained when the body was dumped.?

Laguna police said the victim was ?most likely? already dead before he was transported to Sta. Maria.

APO members

Four members of the Alpha Phi Omega (APO) fraternity, which the victim wanted to join, also voluntarily surrendered to the Makati Police Thursday, and are now in police custody. Their ages range from 17-20 years old.

An initial investigation showed that 15 people were present during the hazing rites which allegedly happened in Barangay San Antonio, Makati City, on Saturday.

Police refused to disclose the names of the fraternity members, all of them UMak students.

In a report to Mayor Jejomar Erwin Binay Jr., the Makati police said Intia, a building and wiring management student, was discovered in a 30-foot deep ravine along Km 99, Marcos Highway, Barangay Laurel, by a barangay kagawad living near the area.

According to the report, Chief Insp. Dennis Macalintal, chief of Station Investigation and Detention Management, received a telephone call from the Laguna Police Office at around 1 a.m. Friday regarding the discovery of the body of an unidentified man in Sta. Maria town.

Macalintal immediately contacted the victim?s father, Oscar, who came to the station earlier that night to report that his son had been missing since Aug. 14.

Based on the investigation, EJ Karl was last seen leaving their house on that day wearing a red T-shirt, blue pants and a pair of slippers.

Macalintal requested Intia to accompany the police team to the Banting Funeral House in Famy, Laguna, where the father identified the body as that of his missing son.

Binay earlier ordered the police to investigate the incident, and gave them 24 hours to show results.

?I am saddened by this incident, and disappointed that the members of the organization did not immediately inform the authorities about the death of a neophyte. There should be swift action on the part of the police,? he said.

Police are now conducting follow-up operations in coordination with the other operating units for the possible arrest of more suspects.

Binay added that his father, Vice President Jejomar Binay, a member of the APO fraternity, was aware of the incident and also wants justice for the victim and his family.