The place in Barangay Pamplona Tres where sorority sisters allegedly took turns beating a reluctant recruit. —Dexter Cabalza
A teenage daughter of a Batangas town mayor was hospitalized for injuries inflicted allegedly by sorority members who had threatened her life and forced her to undergo hazing in Las Piñas City.
In an initial statement to the police, Larissa Colleen Alilio, a tourism major at Lyceum of the Philippines University in Manila, said she suffered physical and mental abuse at the hands of Tau Gamma Sigma members, who on Sunday brought her to an abandoned house on F. Ocampo Avenue, Barangay Pamplona Tres.
The complainant is an 18-year-old daughter of Mayor Eulalio Alilio of Lemery, Batangas.
According to the case investigator, SPO2 Ernesto Bautista Jr., the sorority members started inviting Alilio to join the organization in December, offering camaraderie and involvement in civic activities on campus.
‘Blessing’
On Jan. 3, Alilio went to see the sorority members at the school gym for a so-called “blessing” in preparation for the initiation rites. But when Alilio told them that she was withdrawing, they allegedly threatened to kill her.
On Sunday, the sorority members told her they would go on an “outing” and ordered her to bring food, a sack and a candlestick. Bautista said Alilio, fearing for her life, reluctantly complied.
Around 10 a.m. on Sunday, she was brought to the abandoned house in Las Piñas, where around 40 sorority members also gathered. She was blindfolded and ordered to kneel down.
Melted wax on her back
Quoting Alilio, Bautista said the sorority members took turns hitting her with a belt and a stick on the back of her thighs about 50 times. They also poured melted candle wax on her back, pulled her hair and slapped her repeatedly.
They ended her ordeal around 2:30 p.m. but Alilio was brought back to her boarding house in Pasay City around 8 p.m. by the unidentified man who had fetched her earlier.
Alilio’s parents learned of what happened to their daughter only on Monday, Bautista said. The student was brought to the hospital and was already in stable condition as of Tuesday.
In an interview, Bautista said Alilio’s mother, Cherry, had filed a complaint in the Southern Police District’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Group.
Alilio could only give the aliases of four sorority members who conducted the initiation rites—Lady Master Anna, Brandy, Yonara and Yuna. Bautista said they faced charges for violation of Republic Act No. 8149 or the Anti-Hazing Law, and for serious illegal detention since Alilio no longer wanted to join the sorority but was still forced by the suspects.
Lyceum statement
On Tuesday, Lyceum’s Office for External Affairs issued a statement saying it does not recognize any fraternity or sorority. “[The university] does not tolerate or condone violence of any kind. The institution had no knowledge of this activity, and as such, this was not a school-sponsored activity.”
The university said it had offered assistance to Alilio in the form of medical insurance, as well as legal and psychological counseling.