Kin of hazing victim hit delays, want judge out

The family of alleged hazing victim Marvin Reglos wants a new judge to handle the case as it decried the delay in the issuance of arrest warrants against eight more suspects in the San Beda law student’s death.

The family’s lawyer Dennis Pangan on Tuesday said his clients had filed a motion asking Judge Miguel Asuncion of Antipolo City Regional Trial Court Branch 97 to inhibit himself.

This would be followed by an administrative complaint to be filed in the Surpreme Court citing Asuncion for dereliction of duty, Pangan said.

“It has been 11 days since the Antipolo prosecutor ordered the filing of charges against the eight other accused and yet the judge has not issued arrest warrants,” Pangan told the Inquirer on Tuesday.

Earlier, Assistant City Prosecutor Christian Banggui found probable cause against Lambda Rho Beta (LRB) fraternity leader Eduardo Casimiro Escobal and alleged members Kevin Jordan Mendoza, Norman Espinoza, Marco Antonio Ampil, Kelvin Brian Pe, Israel Cruz, Christian Adobo, and Mar Grien Arcenar Gregana.

No bail was recommended for all the accused. Together with other suspects, Bodjie Bobby Yap and Eric Castillo, who were arrested earlier at the hospital where Reglos died, they face murder charges in relation to the antihazing law.

Yap and Castillo remained detained at Rizal Provincial Jail since their arrest shortly after Reglos’ death in February.

Reglos, a 25-year-old son of a migrant worker in Isabela province, succumbed to injuries allegedly sustained during hazing rites in a resort in Antipolo on Feb. 19. The freshman San Beda law student was a neophyte seeking admission into the LRB fraternity.

“The judge told us he was still studying the case. But in any case, he should have ordered the arrest of the accused while the trial is ongoing,” Pangan said, adding that the Reglos family was extremely dismayed by the lack of movement in the case.