Tarlac grieves, angry over hazing victim’s death

BARBARIC BROTHERHOOD Photo of Marc Andrei Marcos, 21, posted in the Twitter account of his sister. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

RAMOS, Tarlac—Many did not know who Marc Andre Marcos was until news broke out on Wednesday that he was the latest hazing victim.

Tarlaqueños were not only grieving with the Marcos family but were also angered by what they called a “wasted life” caused by a blatant disregard of the law by people who were supposed to uphold it.

The community of lawyers and law students in Tarlac is mourning the death of Marcos, a law freshman at San Beda College (SBC) who died from hazing injuries. His body lies at the family home in Barangay Poblacion here and will be buried on Sunday.

Marcos, 21, came from a family of lawyers. His grandfather, Matilliano, is a retired regional trial court judge while his aunt, lawyer Marimier Marcos-Rivera, teaches at the Tarlac State University (TSU) College of Law.

Lawyer Arnaldo Dizon, president of the Tarlac chapter of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (Tarlac-IBP), said young lives were being wasted because of fraternity hazing.

“What is worst is that Marcos was one who dreamed of becoming a lawyer and he suffered such a fate even as we have an antihazing law in the country,” Dizon said.

On Friday, law students of TSU will hold a motorcade to press for justice for Marcos and  to condemn hazing. The motorcade will start on the school campus in Tarlac City and end at Ramos, about 30 kilometers away.

“We cannot do anything anymore about Andre, we cannot bring him back but we will pursue the case. We will do this to prevent anything like this from happening again and prevent future aspirants from being victimized by fraternity hazing,” Rivera said.