Enough is enough

The search is on for the doctor who allegedly denied helping Adamson University student John Matthew Salilig when he was clearly in trouble after a brutal hazing from members of the Tau Gamma Phi fraternity. He has not been identified. If he is found and caught and proven to have denied helping, he should lose his license to practice medicine. The Hippocratic Oath clearly specifies “I will use those dietary regimens which will benefit my patients according to my greatest ability and judgment, and I will do no harm or injustice to them.” Over the years, this has been paraphrased to “First, do no harm”. Another part of the Oath says, “I will abstain from all intentional wrong-doing and harm, especially from abusing the bodies of man or woman, bond or free.”

This doctor was mentioned by one of five implicated in the death of Salilig, although his name was never mentioned. He is in deep trouble if he denied the victim help. Doctors are healers. I fail to see the logic as to why he would deny helping if he was not involved in the hazing. I hope the authorities find and identify him.

We never seem to run out of incidents like this in spite of the Anti-Hazing Law. It only goes to show these people are not afraid or unfazed by the said law. Perhaps the law should be reviewed and amended to give it more teeth. A speedy trial would be one of those amendments. The slow pace of cases concerning fraternity hazing deaths gives the perpetrators enough time to find loopholes and even chances of leaving the country. Take the case of hazing victim Horatio Castillo III at the hands of Aegis Juris fraternity members. He died in 2017 and yet the case is still being heard at present. That’s six years the family has been waiting for justice. Too long for a clear-cut case such as this one. Another is categorizing a hazing death as premeditated murder.

And what is with this Tau Gamma Phi fraternity which happens to have the highest number of hazing deaths in Philippine history? Seventeen deaths have been attributed to this group’s hazing rites. Are violent hazing rites encouraged by this fraternity, particularly its elders? Because I don’t see any reforms with regard to their hazing rites. Guillo Servando died in 2014 at the hands of this very fraternity. Or are its members naturally inclined to violence? Universities and colleges would do well to keep a close eye on this fraternity. They have caused so much grief and suffering to both victims and their families, some are still waiting for justice. Enough is enough.