Student dies after frat initiation

KIDAPAWAN CITY—An agriculture student of the University of Southern Mindanao (USM) died allegedly after a fraternity initiation in Kabacan town, North Cotabato province, on Saturday afternoon.

Senior Insp. Ronnie Cordero, Kabacan chief of police, identified the victim as Bobong Bualan, 26.

“We don’t discount the possibility that the victim could be a member of a fraternity. Our investigators are now conducting investigation where the initiation took place,” Cordero told the Inquirer by phone.

A student who asked not to be identified said Bualan was a neophyte of Triskelion Fraternity in Kabacan.

Case investigator SPO2 Kenneth Garbin said Bualan, who had bruises on his legs and body, collapsed while he was sitting on a bench in his boarding house.

Bualan reportedly had just returned home when the incident happened.

A housemate brought him to the Kabacan Medical Specialist Center where he was pronounced dead on arrival. Williamor A. Magbanua, Inquirer Mindanao