Hazing suspect yields; Aquino appeals to ‘elders’

One of the 11 suspects in the death of alleged hazing victim Guillo Cesar Servando surrendered to the Manila police on Tuesday, as public outrage rose over the killing and President Benigno Aquino III appealed to fraternity elders to help end such violent ordeals they themselves had survived.

Manila Police District spokesperson Chief Insp. Erwin Margarejo said the suspect—who introduced himself as a member of Tau Gamma Phi—turned himself in around noon. The MPD withheld the man’s identity, citing security reasons.

“He also told us that the hazing incident happened in Palanan, Makati City,” he said.  “We hope that his surrender will lead the other suspects to come forward and turn themselves in.”

According to Margarejo, the suspect, the first to yield out of the 11, will be handed over to the Makati police which he said would handle the investigation and filing of charges.

Also on Tuesday, a media statement released by Tau Gamma Phi said it was “deeply troubled” by reports tagging its members in the latest hazing death.

“The Tau Gamma Phi strongly condemns the violence inflicted against Servando. The fraternity does not and will not condone this kind of incident. It is presently conducting its own internal investigation and will fully cooperate with the authorities to bring those involved to justice,” it said.

Offering its condolences to Servando’s family, the group maintained that it was a fraternity founded on “principles and rationality, not on violence.”

President Aquino addressed the call to end fraternity hazing to the very men who had survived it in their youth but who may now have the clout within their respective organizations to break this deadly, widely-denounced tradition.

“I would like to call upon all the elders of these various fraternities. Even if you had to undergo the same, isn’t it about time that you [become] most active in making sure that it stops?” he told reporters at Clark Air Base in Pampanga province.

“I will be criticized (for saying this). I am not a member of a fraternity, but to inflict harm on people you will call brothers really escapes any logic that I can fathom,” Mr. Aquno said, three days after Servando, a sophomore of De La Salle–College of St. Benilde in Manila, died of injuries believed to be inflicted during hazing rites.

At least two of such “elders” weighed in on the Servando case.

Sen. Ralph Recto, a Tau Gamma Phi member, said schools and universities must “do their job” in cautioning students against joining fraternities. “Maybe at the beginning of the school year, during their orientation, (they) can explain … to the students that they have to be careful, that hazing and violence are not allowed, that there’s such a law and you can be criminally prosecuted.”

Asked if he thinks that the current leaders of his fraternity are tolerating hazing, Recto said: “I have no knowledge of whether the leaders of the frat are familiar with this case or not. I have no knowledge.”

Another elder, Vice President Jejomar Binay—who described himself as a “proud member” of Alpha Phi Omega—went to Servando’s wake at La Salle Green Hills in Mandaluyong City to condole with the grieving family.

Speaking to reporters, Binay maintained that he was not in favor of banning fraternities but supports the ban on hazing, and that “organizations that undertake it should not be allowed to exist.” The Constitution, he said, grants people “the right to join and be part of organizations.”

A sophomore taking up hotel and restaurant management, Servando was found dead while three other Benilde students were found injured from beatings on the back and thighs late Saturday night inside a unit at One Archer’s Place, a condo building on Taft Avenue, Manila.

Authorities found them after one of the injured students—John Paul Raval, the unit owner—managed to call a police hotline for help.

The police have tagged 11 Tau Gamma Phi members as suspects, after the students spoke of the three-hour beating they got from the frat members as part of their initiation rites. The students were beaten up while blindfolded before they were brought to One Archer’s by the suspects. With Leila Salaverria and Christine O. Avendaño