A Manila court has convicted the 10 Aegis Juris fraternity members behind the death of University of Santo Tomas (UST) law student Horacio “Atio” Castillo III in 2017.
On Tuesday, Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 11 announced that it found Arvin Balag, Mhin Wei Chan, Axel Hipe, Ralph Trangia, Oliver Onofre, Joshua Macabali, Robin Ramos, Marcelino Bagtang, Hans Rodrigo, and Jose Salamat guilty beyond resonable doubt of violating Republic Act 8049 or the Anti-Hazing Law.
Autopsy showed the 22-year-old freshman died from “severe blunt traumatic injuries” after allegedly undergoing the initiation rites of the said fraternity.
Meanwhile, Atio’s parents, who were present when the judgment was announced, were emotional as they called out the liability of the school and its administrators on the case.
“At this point, I would like to say that I am holding the University of Santo Tomas responsible for the death of our son. It has been proven that Aegis Juris has been practicing hazing and it is time to check your policies and laws in the school,” Atio’s mother Carmina told the media.
She added the UST, Faculty of Civil Law, and Dean [Nilo Divina] “failed to protect” their son.
For Atio’s father, Horacio Castillo III underscored “it is about time heads should roll in UST.”
Prior to the promulgation of the decision, Atio’s parents earlier shared they expect a ‘perfect conviction’ of the fraternity members.
“Very obvious that hazing happened and the prosecution, we have proven with our evidence and our witnesses that hazing happened so we expect conviction,” said Carmina.
Atio’s father said “today will mark the beginning of something big,” expressing hope that the conviction of those behind his son’s death will serve as a warning to supposed “brotherhoods” that inflicting physical injury to applicants carries serious consequences.
This incident paved the way for the passage of the Anti-Hazing Act of 2018, as well as the landmark case of Balag vs. Senate of the Philippines.
Manila Standard has sought comment from the UST, but has yet to receive a response as of posting time.
Editor’s Note: This is an updated article. Originally posted with the headline “Manila court convicts fratmen over Atio Castillo hazing case.”
