Police take custody of 4 frat men in suspected hazing death

From PCCR’s official FB page

The police have taken custody of four of the 12 suspects in the suspected hazing death of 25-year-old Ahldryn Leary Bravante, a fourth-year criminology student of the Philippine College of Criminology (PCCr) in Manila.

A report from the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) on Tuesday identified the suspects as Justine Artates, 20; Kyle Michael Cordeta, 21; Lexer Angelo Manarpies, 20; and Mark Leo Andales, 20—all members of the school’s Tau Gamma Phi Fraternity chapter.

According to QCPD spokesperson Lt. Col. May Genio, Bravante underwent the fraternity’s initiation rites at an abandoned condominium building near the corner of Santo Domingo Avenue and Calamba Street in Quezon City, between noon and 2 p.m. on Monday.

“However, around 4 p.m. the victim started complaining of weakness and dizziness, and asked his fratmates to rush him to the hospital,” she said.

Bravante eventually lost consciousness and was brought to the Chinese General Hospital and Medical Center in Manila, where he was pronounced dead upon arrival at 6:45 p.m.

Artates and Cordeta, who brought him to the hospital, were arrested by the police while Manarpies and Andales surrendered the next day. The four are facing a complaint for violating Republic Act No. 11053, or the Anti-Hazing Act of 2018. The police are looking for eight other suspects whom they have identified.

Genio said there were bruises on the victim’s thigh and legs, as well as cigarette burns on his hands.

According to investigators, the fraternity members admitted hitting Bravante with a wooden paddle 60 times. The police were searching for the paddle, which the suspects had thrown into a river.

Bravante’s father, Alex, said he last spoke with his son on Sunday and did not know he was joining a fraternity.

The victim who left behind a six-year-old child worked as a part-time family driver and delivery rider to help make ends meet. His mother, an overseas worker in Oman, came home last month after her other son died in a motorcycle accident.

The PCCr suspended its classes on Tuesday afternoon and offered Mass for its students. It also condemned the “dastardly act” against Bravante, saying that “hazing, in any form, is an abhorrent and reprehensible practice that has no place in our society,” it said.

Bravante’s case happened months after the killing of 24-year-old John Matthew Salilig, a third year chemistry student from Adamson University in Manila, during hazing rites conducted also by Tau Gamma on Feb. 18.

Salilig’s naked body was found in a shallow grave in Imus, Cavite province, 10 days later, after he was abandoned by his own fratmates. INQ