MANILA, Philippines — The parents of hazing victim Horacio “Atio” Castillo III urged youth organizations, especially fraternities and sororities, to study the new anti-hazing law.
Speaking before “The Chiefs” aired on Cignal TV’s One News on Friday, Horacio “Toti” Castillo Jr. and Carmina Castillo welcomed the enactment of Republic Act 11053 banning all forms of hazing in the country.
“I hope all fraternities will study this new law. Maybe stop recruiting first for all fraternities. Study the law. In the end, this will be beneficial for a lot of people,” Horacio said.
Atio, a freshman law student at the University of Santo Tomas, died in September last year following alleged hazing during initiation rites of the Aegis Juris fraternity.
Ten members of the fraternity are currently detained and are facing charges over the incident.
The incident prompted a review of the existing law on hazing, with lawmakers pushing for stricter penalties and higher level of accountability.
Bagong Henerasyon Party-list Rep. Bernadette Herrera-Dy, a proponent of the new law, said the new legislation has widened the definition and coverage of acts penalized as hazing.
“We included those who try to conceal, they’re also being punished. We increased those who are present as principals,” she said in the same program.
“We became strict in terms of registration and monitoring of the schools. We increased the responsibility of the schools in terms of monitoring. Every year, they should monitor. The sororities, fraternities and organizations have to register,” she added.
Dy said they are hoping to finally put a stop to the culture of hazing through the new law.
“Those who are present as principals, and not just bystanders, everybody has the same responsibility. If you are there, you saw it happening and you did not do anything, you’re just as liable than the person doing the act,” she explained.
Dy said this is already being practiced at the University of the Philippines. She added they wanted it to be implemented in other schools and universities where there are fraternities and sororities.
Under the Revised Anti-Hazing Law, Dy said they have differentiated “initiation rites” from “hazing.”
“Initiation doesn’t entail any physical or psychological harm. That is also one of the salient provisions that we included, psychological harm also as a definition of hazing, not just physical, but also psychological, so we added definition to that,” she said.
Dy said the lawmakers took into consideration that there are also fraternities and sororities in communities.
Better image
In a separate statement, the National Youth Commission (NYC) said they hope a better image for fraternities and sororities would emerge with the passage of the new law.
“The Commission believes that brotherhood or sisterhood, or one’s dedication to an organization, should be measured not by how many paddles one can take, but by his commitment to the mission and vision of the organization,” the NYC said.
“A member’s commitment can be built not just on the day of initiation but through the course of their participation in the activities of the organization,” it added.
The NYC said fraternities and sororities should serve as inspiration to deepen the sense of brotherhood and sisterhood among young people and not as platforms to make submission to barbaric acts of physical violence as a requirement for membership.