Chili, choco bars, ammonia kept neophytes up after 100 ‘whacks’

FRAT HOUSE REVISITED Wearing his school shirt, a witness to the June 28 fraternity hazing joins an NBI team on Tuesday to recount the ordeal suffered by four Tau Gamma Phi neophytes at a house in Makati City. NIÑO JESUS ORBETA

The neophytes were whacked with a paddle more than a hundred times—and anyone who remained standing was given six more “as a reward.” For energy, hot chili and chocolate bars were stuffed in their mouths, and a whiff of ammonia kept them from passing out.

At the end of the session, they were made to chant: “I love (a hamburger brand), I love tambayan, I love north, I love south, I love Tau Gamma Phi-La Salle chapter!”

A team from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) led by senior agent Joey Ajero came across these details on Tuesday as it revisited the house in Makati City where a fraternity hazing led to the death of a college student and sent three more to the hospital on June 28.

With the NBI team was one of the two witnesses to the hazing who pointed to areas in the Barangay Palanan property where Tau Gamma Phi members tormented four recruits from De La Salle–College of St. Benilde, including Guillo Cesar Servando who would later succumb to his injuries.

The witnesses earlier executed affidavits saying the fraternity members present at the initiation rites ordered Servando’s three “surviving” fellow neophytes to lie about the cause of his death.

The neophytes were instructed by a senior frat member to call an ambulance but to tell the emergency responders that they came from a drinking spree, said the witness, whose identity was withheld by the NBI.

The two witnesses also implicated Jomar Pajarito, the caretaker of the frat house, who was earlier regarded as an informant—not a suspect—by the Makati City police in a parallel investigation.

They said Pajarito, who went to the Manila police two days after Servando was found dead, participated in the hazing and was not a mere observer.

He was in charge of feeding the neophytes chili, chocolate bars and water, and also made them sniff ammonia to ensure none of them passed out, the witnesses said.

At least 15 people saw the neophytes suffer, including three girls, they added. The recruits, who took a beating from 6 p.m. to around 9:30 p.m., were not allowed to scream.

NBI Director Virgilio Mendez on Tuesday said the bureau was expecting two more witnesses to come forward. “Sufficient evidence had been gathered and the case against the members of the fraternity will be filed immediately,” Mendez said.

Among the suspects already identified are Cody Errol Morales, 22, Lord GT (Grand Triskelion) of Tau Gamma Phi’s DLS-CSB chapter; and Daniel Paul Cruz Bautista (alias Pope Bautista), the frat secretary who also served as the “medic” during the initiation rites.

The NBI had also identified the others as Kurt Michael Almazan, reportedly a business administration student at DLS-CSB; Emerson Calupas, 20, a Pasay City resident; Stephen Peñano, Carl Francis Loresca, Anton Santiago and Don Castillo.