“These sessions have brought to light what has previously been kept secret from the public.”
The two chambers of Congress are on the right track in bringing to light questionable policies and decisions of the previous administration that allowed criminal activities to take place, particularly in its brutal war on drugs and in the operations of Philippine Online Gaming Operators (POGOs).
In the Senate, the committee on women, children and family relations headed by Sen. Risa Hontiveros has unearthed strong evidence that dismissed Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Leal Guo, whose real name is Guo Hua Ping, is in fact a Chinese national and therefore unfit to hold public office in the first place. The Senate hearing also revealed that Guo had been heavily involved in illegal POGO activities in Bamban and nearby Porac municipality in Pampanga.
Meanwhile, four committees of the House of Representatives on dangerous drugs, public order and safety, human rights, and public accounts have been conducting lengthy public hearings on various concerns, including extrajudicial killings in the course of the Duterte administration’s bloody war on illegal drugs.
The hearings have brought to light what has previously been kept secret from the public because of the prevailing climate of fear at the height of Duterte’s “kill, kill, kill” mantra during his six-year term from 2016 to 2022.
For instance, in a recent hearing of the House quad committee, an active duty police officer tagged two former ranking police officials in the 2020 killing of a retired general who worked as board secretary of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO). The two former police officials denied the allegations, but the surprise witness presented by the quad committee stood his ground and positively identified the two former police officials very close to Rodrigo Duterte as the masterminds of the assassination.
Congressional hearings are supposed to be conducted in aid of legislation, that is, to revise or fine-tune existing laws and to come up with new ones based on changing times.
But the ongoing investigation, televised live, has allowed the public to take a close look at what happened during Duterte’s bloody war on drugs and the POGO operations. POGOs were supposed to benefit the economy as a whole but instead led to a slew of criminal activities, such as money laundering, kidnapping, torture, and murder, among others.
This is well and good, as it will underscore the government’s responsibility and commitment to exact accountability for misdeeds and wrongdoing by those holding public office.
Fraternity hazing must stop
It took seven whole years for justice to be served in the case of the death from fraternity hazing of University of Santo Tomas (UST) law freshman Horacio “Atio” Castillo III in 2017, but the long wait by his family for the court to try the case based on available evidence and render a verdict is finally over.
In the recent decision of the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 11, Judge Shirley Magsipoc-Pagalilauan found 10 senior members of the Aegis Juris fraternity liable for the death of Castillo. They will each serve a sentence of reclusion perpetua, or a prison term of 20 to 40 years.
The fraternity members were convicted of violating the Anti-Hazing Act of 1995 for their participation in the initiation rites that proved fatal for Castillo. Apart from the long prison terms, they were also ordered to pay the victim’s family P461,800 in actual damages; P75,000 in civil indemnity; P75,000 in moral damages, and P75,000 in exemplary damages.
The case led to renewed public outrage against fraternity hazing and pressure on the legislature to amend Republic Act No. 11053 a year later and impose tougher penalties on perpetrators of fraternity-related violence.
In the court decision, Judge Pagalilauan pointed out: “The untimely death of Atio caused pain, agony, anxiety, suffering and mental anguish to his heirs because it deprived them of his company, love, support and companionship.” Exemplary damages were warranted, she added, as evidence revealed aggravating circumstances, including the fact that the hazing was done outside the academic institution.
Will the recent verdict on this case help put an end to fraternity-related violence? Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri thinks so, as he believes this should “serve as a stern warning to fraternities that still refuse to end their culture of hazing…that no one is above the law.” Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian has also welcomed the ruling:
“Alongside the pursuit of justice for other hazing victims, we must also ensure that our institutions, including schools and law enforcement agencies, work diligently to eliminate hazing.”
But it seems that fraternity hazing is not going to end soon in this country. Just a few days ago, TV news revealed that a Grade 11 student in Nueva Ecija died from hazing injuries inflicted by a community-based fraternity. (Email: ernhil@yahoo.com)
