UST law dean claims being ‘virtually exonerated’ in Atio hazing

Nilo Divina

University of Santo Tomas (UST) law dean Nilo Divina insisted on his innocence in the Sept. 17 fatal hazing of law freshman Horacio “Atio” Castillo III, claiming he was “virtually exonerated” when the victim’s parents failed to answer his arguments to have the charges against him dismissed.

Divina on Thursday submitted a rejoinder affidavit to the Department of Justice.

Castillo’s parents, Horacio Jr. and Carminia, had filed a complaint for murder, obstruction of justice and violation of the antihazing law against the dean and 36 others, mostly Divina’s fellow Aegis Juris members.

The UST official stressed that the closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera footage presented during the Senate inquiry on the incident, which purportedly showed Castillo visiting Divina’s law office in Makati City five days before his death, was not enough to have him indicted for a crime.

‘Prior knowledge’

“The complainants only maintained that I knew that Atio was a neophyte and therefore I allegedly had ‘prior knowledge’ of his supposed hazing…based on the screenshot of the CCTV footage,” he said.

His membership in Aegis Juris and his role in the fraternity several years ago “cannot translate to knowledge of the recruitment and hazing” of Castillo, he added.

In a statement released by his law firm on the same day, Divina declared: “I’ve been virtually exonerated in the hazing case.”

Divina also questioned the claim of Castillo’s parents that a man in a blue jacket who was seen in the CCTV footage was their son.

“(T)here was not even an attempt on the part of complainants to mention whether that kind of jacket is unique in all the world and could only be the one belonging to Atio,” he said.

“The obvious unreliability of a blue jacket as the sole indicator that the person wearing it was Atio could not have been lost on complainants themselves,” he stressed.

Not ‘negligent’

He also denied being “negligent” as a university official, recalling how he immediately told other UST authorities about Castillo’s death after learning about it.

If he were negligent, “(I) would not have found ways to facilitate the surrender of (primary suspect) John Paul Solano, who was instrumental in bringing to light what had purportedly happened.”