May alam akong kapatiran o fraternity, pati rin sorority, na malaki ang naitutulong sa pag-aaral ng mga miyembro. Meron pa ngang academic excellence at pagsisilbi sa bayan ang tanging dahilan ng pagkakatatag at napananatili ang misyon kahit ilang dekada na ang lumipas at nangamatay na ang mga matitino at mahuhusay nitong tagapagtatag. Walang karahasan. Walang hazing. Magandang balita at ipamalita – iyon ay kung at kung hindi masasapawan ng bad news mula sa… Saan? Sa frat pa rin.
Masaklap na balita sa iba sa halip na masamang balita “lang” kung may namamatay sa pagsali sa frat. O mas pinasaklap dahil, pinaigting na nga ang batas laban sa hazing o pamamalo gamit ang paddle o iba pang pamalo, pamamahiya, at/o pagmamalupit bilang bahagi ng pagtanggap sa bagong kasapi ng frat. Isa pang bagong kasong mas pinasaklap at ilang araw nang tinututukang panoorin at basahin ng maraming estudyante at magulang ang pinakasariwang balita: Brod na, pinalo pa ng 70 beses, ayon sa mga ulat. Magkaibang chapter naman daw. Hindi siya dinala sa ospital ng frat. Bagkus, frat niya ang responsable sa pagbaon sa kanya sa bakanteng lote sa Cavite. May nakonsensya at itinuro ang pwestong iyon. Ang pamantasan niya sa Maynila kung saan siya nag-aaral ng chemical engineering ay gumagawa ng sarili nitong pagsisiyasat, kasabay ang pakikipag-ugnayan sa mga awtoridad para sa interes ng hustisya.
Kilalang kilala ang frat na direktang dawit sa naturang imbestigasyon. Walang magulang na hindi kayang bigkasin ang pangalan ng frat, bagamat merong mga nagkakamali sa spelling nito. Para hindi makapanlinlang, sabihin na nating notoryus at hindi basta-basta kilalang kilala lang. May nagbitiw sa katungkulan bilang founder (co-founder) ng frat na dinaan niya sa kanyang social media account na aniya, dahil sa karumal-dumal na krimen, nakakahiyang magpatawag pa raw siyang founder.
Patunay ang pangyayari na merong culture of impunity sa bansa at habang tuloy-tuloy ang follow-up story sa pagkamatay ng isang kabataan matapos dumanas ng hazing, tuloy-tuloy din ang pagbuhos ng simpatya, panalangin sa mga naulila, at pangongondena sa masasamang gawain ng ilang frat.
Sa maraming talaan ng mga namamatay sa hazing na mababasa sa iba’t ibang website, mga malalaking pangalan ng kolehiyo at pamantasan mula sa Visayas at Mindanao, lalong lalo sa Luzon, ang mga nakatala. Sa perspektibo ng mga maiingat na magulang na nagpapadala ng mga anak sa itinuturing na “pangalawang tahanan,” nakababahala ang serye ng karahasan na kinasasangkutan ng mga kabataang kasapi ng mga frat. Kung tutuusin, malakas lamang sa mga headline ang mga balitang may namamatay na mga estudyante sa hazing, pero meron ding hindi-birong bilang ng patayan mula sa frat war, at isama pa natin ang basta lang nakukursunadahang patayin ng ganitong klaseng “kalalakihan.”
A founder of another fraternity made a comment in 2017: “The recent death of a (university) law student who was a neophyte of (a certain) fraternity is a shocking story. It shouldn’t happen because the alumni who are faculty members of (that university) are lawyers who teach law, and the collegiate members are law students who are learning the law. Therefore, it is expected that they will not violate Republic Act No. 8049 or the Anti-Hazing Law.”
In 2018 it became Republic Act No. 11053 or “An Act Prohibiting Hazing and Regulating Other Forms of Initiation Rites of Fraternities, Sororities, and Other Organizations, and Providing Penalties for Violations Thereof, Amending for the Purpose Republic Act No. 8049, Entitled “An Act Regulating Hazing and Other Forms of Initiation Rites in Fraternities Sororities, and Organizations and Providing Penalties Therefor.”
Government station PTV described it, “Mas pinalakas na anti-hazing law.”
How can you argue with its being stronger and better than that of the 1995 law? Now, just because “mas pinalakas” does not mean that frat violence and hazing deaths would become a thing of the past. Only ten months ago, then Philippine president and LEX Talionis Fraternitas Inc. member Rodrigo Duterte made a statement denouncing renewed hazing practices. He recalled that they once wrote to their fraternity to stop “this nonsense of inflicting severe pain.” In 1991 a student of Duterte’s alma mater in law studies died of physical injuries he sustained from Lex Talionis’ initiation rites, though criminal case records showed that the student and three other freshmen from that college of law were “assured” that hazing was not a requirement for their membership.
Substitute Parental Authority
The anti-hazing law of 2018 provides the following: “All existing fraternities sororities, and other organizations otherwise not created or organized by the school but has existing members who are students or plans to recruit students to be its member shall be required to register with the proper school authorities before it conducts activities whether on or off-campus, including recruitment of members.
“A newly established fraternity, sorority, or organization in a school shall immediately register with proper school authorities during the semester or trimester in which it was established or organized: Provided, That the new fraternity, sorority, or organization has complied with the requirements prescribed by the school in establishing a fraternity, sorority, or organization has complied with the requirements prescribed by the school in establishing a fraternity, sorority, or organization: Provided, further, That schools shall promulgate their guidelines in the registration of fraternities , sororities, and organizations within their jurisdiction not later than sixty (60) days from the approval of this Act.
“Upon registration, all fraternities, sororities, or organizations shall submit a comprehensive list of members, which shall be updated not later than thirty (30) days from the start of every semester or trimester, depending on the academic calendar of the school.
“School official shall have the authority to impose, after due notice and summary hearings, disciplinary penalties in accordance with the school’s guidelines and regulations on the matter including suspension to the head and other officers of the fraternity, sorority, or organization who fail to register or update their roster of members as required under this section.
“Failure to comply with any of the requirements in this section shall result in the cancellation of the registration of the fraternity, sorority, or organization.
“Schools shall require all fraternities, sororities, or organizations, as a condition to the grant of accreditation or registration, to submit the name or names of their respective faculty adviser or advisers who must not be members of the respective fraternity, sorority, or organization. The submission shall also include a written acceptance or consent on the part of the selected faculty adviser or advisers.
“The faculty advisers shall be responsible for monitoring the activities of the fraternity, sorority, or organization established or registered.
“In case of violation of any of the provisions of this Act, it is presumed that the faculty adviser has knowledge and consented to the commission of any of the unlawful acts stated therein.”
As for the educational institutions’ role: “The responsibility of schools to exercise reasonable supervision in loco parentis over the conduct of its students requires the diligence that prudent parents would employ in the same circumstances when discriminating and protecting their children. To this end, it shall be the duty of schools to take more proactive steps to protect its students from the dangers of participating in activities that involve hazing.
“Schools shall implement an information dissemination campaign at the start of every semester or trimester to provide adequate information to students and parents or guardians regarding the consequences of conducting and participating in hazing.
“An orientation program relating to membership in a fraternity, sorority, or organization shall also be conducted by schools at the start of every semester or trimester.
“Schools shall encourage fraternities, sororities, and organizations to engage in undertakings that foster holistic personal growth and development and activities that contribute to solving relevant and pressing issues of society.”
Matindi-tindi na ang batas sa parusa at pagpapanatili ng kaayusan, diba? Pero laging may problema sa pagpapatupad (law enforcement). Maidagdag ko lang ang ganitong rekomendasyon (bunga ng pakikilahok sa mga seryosong usapin ng ilang stakeholders na may kinalaman at tumututok sa bagong kaso ng hazing): Magkusa na ang (mga) sangkot na frat na lansagin ang kanilang hanay sa pamantasan sa loob ng sampung taon. Hudyat ito ng frat, ng mga miyembro at pinuno nito ng kanilang matinong pakikipag-ayos sa nasira (nasisirang) imahe ng (mga) paaralan na nagbabawal naman sa kanila sa simula’t sapul). Sa 10-year moratorium, hindi nila sasayangin ang panahon na ayusin nila mismo ang kanilang mga sarili at ang imahe ng kanilang kapatiran.
We should make progress in terms of “more proactive steps to protect” our youth, keeping in mind that there is such a thing as parental authority as well as “substitute” parental ones.
DC Alviar
Professor DC Alviar serves as a member of the steering committee of the Philippine International Studies Organization (PHISO). He was part of National University’s community extension project that imparted the five disciplines of a learning organization (Senge, 1990) to communities in a local government unit. He writes and edits local reports for Mega Scene. He graduated with a master’s degree in development communication from the University of the Philippines Open University in Los Baños. He recently defended a dissertation proposal for his doctorate degree in communication at the same graduate school under a Philippine government scholarship grant. He was editor-in-chief of his high school paper Ang Ugat and the Adamson News.
