Atio hazing case: Dead among respondents

Teary eyes Horacio Sr and Carmina, parent of hazing victim Horacio “Atio” Castillo as they listen the narration of one of the witness from Aegis Juris Marc Anthony Ventura during the Senate hearing on hazing at the Senate. EDWIN BACASMAS

The parents of hazing victim Horacio Tomas “Atio” Castillo III moved to exclude an Aegis Juris alumnus from the list of respondents in the case, after it turned out that that person has long been dead.

In a manifestation filed in the Department of Justice (DOJ), lawyer Lorna Kapunan said her clients wanted to remove the name of the late Cavite provincial prosecutor Emmanuel Velasco as a respondent since “he is deceased already.”

Velasco was included in the supplemental complaint filed by Castillo’s parents Horacio Jr. and Carminia based on his being listed as one of the trustees of Aegis Juris, the fraternity Atio was joining.

As a result, Velasco was also covered by the immigration lookout bulletin ordered by the DOJ.

Velasco, who was also a former newspaper reporter, died of a heart attack in May 2013.

Meanwhile, the DOJ has concluded its preliminary investigation into the death of the younger Castillo, a University of Santo Tomas law freshman who underwent initiation rites held at the Aegis Juris library in Sampaloc, Manila, in the morning of Sept. 17. —Julie M. Aurelio