Zubiri urges arrest, prosecution of fratmen tied to Bravante’s death

FILE PHOTO: Senate President Juan Miguel “Migz” F. Zubiri. Senate PRIB file photo

MANILA, Philippines — Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri is calling on authorities to immediately arrest and prosecute all fraternity members responsible for the alleged fatal hazing of a criminology student.

“This senseless death of another young student due to barbaric fraternity tradition is not only enraging but frustrating as well, as it happened despite our efforts to put more teeth to the law against fraternity hazing,” Zubiri said in a statement.

READ: Police take custody of 4 frat men in suspected hazing death

“Needless to say, the full force of the law must come down on those soulless people who killed the same person they claim to be as their brother,” he added.

Ahldryn Bravante, 25 years old and a 4th-year Philippine College of Criminology student, reportedly died due to hazing on October 16 in Quezon City. His death happened barely eight months after the fatal hazing of 22-year-old John Matthew Salilig, a 3rd-year chemical engineering student at Adamson University.

READ: Zubiri, Gatchalian: Frat men charged in Salilig death prove no one can escape law

Zubiri stressed that “acts of savagery” during hazing must be ended and that people who mock the Philippine justice system should be held accountable for their “misdeeds.”

In 2018, Republic Act No. 11053, otherwise known as the Anti-Hazing Act of 2018, was signed into law.

The measure bans “all forms of hazing in fraternities, sororities, and organizations in school, including citizens’ military training and citizens’ army training.”

kga/abc