Hazing-kidnap rite ‘brains’ sent to jail

MANILA, Philippines — A 19-year-old Colegio de San Juan de Letran student was ordered detained at the Manila City Jail (MCJ) as he faces charges for being the alleged mastermind of a hazing rite turned kidnapping.

Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 19 Presiding Judge Marlo Magdoza Malagar, in an Oct. 31 order, committed Jhulius Atabay to the MCJ, where he would be detained with his fellow accused Ferdinand dela Vega Jr. 20; Justine Mahipus, 18; and Ralph Emmanuel Camaya, 20, as they stand trial.

The college students, who were described by the Philippine National Police chief Director General Oscar Albayalde as being “young… with criminal minds,” were indicted for allegedly kidnapping Denzhel Alexandre Gomez, 19, near the Light Rail Transit Central station in Manila on Aug. 1.

Atabay accompanied Gomez and pretended to be a kidnap victim while Gomez was waiting for a bus. 

Gomez was allegedly forced inside a vehicle at gunpoint and blindfolded before being taken to the house of suspect Dela Vega in Tondo, where he was tied up and detained until his rescue by the police Anti-Kidnapping Group on Aug. 3.

It was also Atabay who contacted the victims’ parents about the ransom amounting to P20 million, according to Mahipus, who has executed a sworn affidavit admitting his role in the kidnapping.

Mahipus said it was Atabay who approached him to serve as a driver for the kidnapping, allegedly as part of an initiation rite to a fraternity.  

In his affidavit, Mahipus admitted that the group had attempted abducting the victim in Intramuros last July.

The charges against the remaining suspects – Eriek Candaba, Gabriel Rabi, Billy Rocillo, Arvi Velasquez, Miguel Austria, and Kim Pascua – remain pending before the prosecutors’ office for preliminary investigation.

The kidnap case is the latest fraternity-related violence in campuses since the death of University of Santo Tomas law freshman student Horacio “Atio” Castillo III, who was killed in a hazing rite in September last year.  

Ten Aegis Juris fraternity members were also ordered detained at the MCJ as they face trial for Castillo’s death.

At the University of the Philippines in Diliman, warring members of the Upsilon Sigma Phi and Alpha Phi Beta face expulsion for two clashes last Wednesday that even involved a car chase mistaken for a shooting incident.