The promising Mr. Argosino

DEFENSIVE Argosino at the Senate hearing. —LYN RILLON

LUCENA CITY—Where is the scholarship foundation that sacked Bureau of Immigration Commissioner Al Caparros Argosino had supposedly established to atone for the death from hazing of Lex Talionis neophyte Raul Camaligan in 1991?

It’s a question that Raul’s father, lawyer Gilbert Camaligan,  had always wanted to ask Argosino and members of the fraternity that include President Rodrigo Duterte and Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II.

“It has been 25 years, and I still have to hear a word from Argosino and other Lex Talionis members,” said Camaligan, a former dean of the College of Law at Enverga University here.

“I hope that this time, he will face the full consequence of what he did. I want him convicted and sent to prison,” he added.

The memory of learning about his son’s death from the newspaper and the pain of seeing his son’s bruised body flashed before Camaligan’s eyes while he was watching the TV coverage of the Senate hearing that had Argosino and his fraternity brother,  Michael Robles, being grilled on the alleged P50 million they had exorted from Chinese casino operator Jack Lam.

Eldest daughter, Christine, who works with the United Nations in Vienna also watched the coverage, had texted him, “Justice at last.”

Raul, who had wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps as a lawyer, passed on at 22.

Another chance

“I have forgiven Argosino and his coaccused, and agreed to give them another chance to make good. But I realized, after 25 years, that God loves my son,” Camaligan, now 77, said.

He added:  “It’s better for my son to have passed away. He could have become a member of Lex Talionis and be like Argosino and Robles. I condemn the Lex Talionis; it’s not a good example for young people.”

At the trial of the Camaligan case in 1991, Argosino and seven others pleaded guilty to the charge of reckless imprudence resulting in homicide, a downgrade of the original homicide charge, that effectively lowered the penalty to a maximum of four years, and a minimum of two years.

HAZING CASUALTY Raul Camaligan as SBC law student

The guilty verdict was meted out in 1993 just as Argosino passed the bar. Upon his release from probation in 1995, Argosino petitioned the Supreme Court to allow him to take his oath and practice law. He presented as evidence of “good moral character” 15 certifications from senators, judges and members of the religious.

He also told the high court, San Beda officials and Gilbert that he had established a scholarship foundation in honor of Raul.

‘Not inherently bad’

In allowing Argosino to take the lawyer’s oath on July 13, 1995, the high court ruled that he was “not inherently of bad moral fiber.” The court was also convinced he had exerted all efforts to atone for the death of the younger Camaligan, citing as evidence the creation of the Raul Camaligan Scholarship Foundation.

“We are prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt, taking judicial notice of the general tendency of youth to be rash, temerarious and uncalculating,” said the Supreme Court decision signed by Chief Justice Andres Narvasa and 13 other justices.

“We stress to Mr. Argosino that the lawyer’s oath is not a mere ceremony or formality for practicing law. Every lawyer should at all times weigh his actions according to the sworn promises he makes when taking the lawyer’s oath. If all lawyers conducted themselves strictly according to the lawyer’s oath and the Code of Professional Responsibility, the administration of justice will undoubtedly be faster, fairer and easier for everyone concerned,” the court added.

But the San Beda College (SBC) alumni office, which handles scholarships and study grants, has no record of a Raul Camaligan Scholarship Foundation supposedly created in 1995 with a capital of P650,000, according to Argosino’s letter to then SBC rector Fr. Bernardo Perez.

The first batch of scholars was supposed to have been enrolled in schoolyear 1996-1997, per Argosino’s letter to the older Camaligan.

No scholars

“It’s not in our list of scholarship foundations, and we have no scholars under the Raul Camaligan Foundation,” said  Joffre Alajar, executive director of the SBC alumni office.  He had never heard of the foundation until Friday when the Inquirer verified it with his office, he added.

San Beda has banned fraternities from its campus. Posters denouncing fraternities are posted at the office of student affairs and the office of the guidance counselor at the College of Law.

One poster enjoined Bedans to protect each other, and not allow a friend or a classmate to be recruited by a fraternity. Another poster had the image of Marc Andrei Marcos and Marvin Reglos, who both died from hazing in 2012.

But the case of Raul Camaligan seems to have been forgotten, without yet a proper closure.  In fact, one of the convicted Lex Talionis members, Rufino Quitasol Jr., fled without serving his sentence.