Duterte says killing a helpless person doesn’t make one more of a man

President Rodrigo Duterte. Screengrab from PCOO / Facebook

MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte has stressed that killing a helpless man would not boost the masculinity of a person, as he condemned the continuing culture of harsh initiation rites among fraternities.

Duterte during the early portion of his Talk to the People on Wednesday talked about the pains he is going through, as a person in his advanced age can feel more pain even in the slightest of wrong body movements.

He then shifted his attention to fraternity traditions of hazing — including a rite at his fraternity, the Lex Talionis, which has supposedly left a lasting effect on his body.  He then called out fraternities for allowing senseless deaths, saying that he would be disappointed if a neophyte dies while undergoing his fraternity’s initiation rites.

“Ewan ko lang sa amin dito I said, I would not be happy to hear my fraternity killing a neophyte, I would view it as patayin mo lang ang tao for nothing, it’s supposed to be in pursuit of academic excellence,” Duterte said.

“‘Yong mga fraternity, hindi ka maging masyadong lalaki.  You cannot be more of a man even to yourself if you kill another human being na helpless, di naman makaganti,” he added.

Duterte said he and his fellow brods at Lex Talionis — Supreme Court Justices Bienvenido Reyes and Jose Mendoza — wrote the fraternity sometime ago to ask that neophytes be protected from too much physical punishment.  The Chief Executive said that while he is in favor of keeping the culture, it must not be too much, citing moderation as a key principle

“‘Yang mga masakit masyado, hindi ‘yan para sa kapwa mo tao, kapwa mo lalaki.  Para lang ‘yang mga masyado, sakit ng puso sa babae manggaling.  Hindi manggaling dyan sa bugbugan,” Duterte said.

“Sabi naming tatlo, nagsulat kami […] na do not totally eradicate ‘yong mga gano’ng humiliation, medyo okay lang.  Pero ‘yong kagaya no’ng, kagaya ko, ma-ano ‘yong mata ko noon, hindi mo ako pwedeng pagsampal-sampalin kasi it would affect the eyesight.  It would leave a lasting pain or mark upon the person,” he added.

Aside from his eyesight being affected, Duterte admitted rushing to the hospital due to hematoma he sustained from paddle blows.

Just come to think of it, ‘yong mga fraternity, may bago na namang namatay, ano bang makuha ninyo?  Ako actually sabihin sa inyo ah, hindi ko bina-backbite ‘yong fraternity ko, right after I went home, umuwi ako ng Davao,” he said.

“Nagpa-ospital ako, severe hematoma, ‘yong palo, ‘yong trauma.  Kasi just moderation, the word moderation is a very good word, in everything that you do, stick to moderation, ‘wag mong sobrahan,” he added.

It is unclear if Duterte was referring to any recent death of a frat member, but the last reported initiation-related death happened in Laguna, where a Grade 12 student undergoing initiation in Laguna’s Kalayaan town died.

READ: Grade 12 student dies in alleged hazing in Laguna 

Several fraternities have been marred by deaths of their neophytes: one of the most controversial cases in recent history involved the killing of 22-year-old University of Santo Tomas student Horacio Castillo, who was found dead in 2017 with various heavy hematoma on his body, which was laced with candle wax.

Autopsy reports said Castillo died from a massive heart attack.

READ: WHAT WENT BEFORE: Atio Castillo hazing case 

JPV