PAO chief: Make school execs liable for hazing

The head of the Public Attorney’s Office called for the stricter implementation of the antihazing law, saying school officials should be held more accountable for the death or injury of students who are subjected to violent fraternity initiation rites.

Citing the recent cases of hazing victims from De La Salle–College of St. Benilde and the University of the Philippines in Diliman, PAO chief Persida Acosta noted that Republic Act 8049, or the Anti-Hazing Law of 1995, was not being implemented as it should be.

“We should have a stricter implementation particularly on school representatives. School officials should supervise initiation rites to ensure that violence does not happen. School officials should be held liable if anything happens,” Acosta told the Inquirer in an interview.

Echoing the calls made by lawmakers and college students, Acosta said the law should be reviewed and amended to include harsher penalties on school authorities under whose watch hazing incidents occur.

“Schools have offices for student affairs. They should have control and supervision over their students. If nobody supervises initiation rites, the students become loose cannon, especially when they are already inebriated,” Acosta said.

The antihazing law actually allows initiation rites of school organizations if granted a written notice by school authorities and under the supervision of at least two school representatives.

It penalizes fraternity leaders, members and school authorities in case violent hazing rites occur, but Acosta noted that this provision had not really been enforced.

That’s why hazing “keeps on happening again and again,” said the head of PAO, an agency under the Department of Justice which mainly provides court lawyers and other legal services for the poor and marginalized sectors.