The uproar over Cris Anthony Mendez’ death on August 27, 2007 due to hazing was clear early on, as if the crime doers will not escape justice. The desire for retribution was as blistering as the sadness the nation had to bear.
UP President Emerlinda Roman ostensibly promised to bring the perpetrators to justice, a big job to tackle against the 12 Sigma Rho fraternity members (fratmen) charged with the Mendez’ death. Ageing Jovito Salonga resigned from the frat which seemed evasive, but cryptically called for “finding the truth” after a characteristic long silence.
Sen. Miriam Defensor demanded a comprehensive review of RA8049 (Anti-Hazing Law) and angrily lashed at the Greek-lettered school UP organizations which she called “elitist enclaves,” though she slyly counted fratmen as among her “very close friends.”
In Quezon province, Fr. Noel Cabungcal pleaded with the Mendez family and the 2,000 mourners “to leave everything to God.” But Martin Dinio, president of Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) was convinced that so long as fratmen help each other dodge punishment, hazing won’t stop.
Justice seemed to have slackened on Mendez. Two months after the interment, the memory of his horrendous fate faded beside the wilted forlorn roses on his grave. The public demand for justice lost fire and the will to prosecute toned down even if UP still got posters seeking justice for the mauling victim.
All accounts seemed to indicate Mendez died of the beatings that strained his body beyond what it could take. His heart gave up earlier than his mind could part from the unrequited desire that he be accepted as a frat brother.
He met those bumbling paddle-happy dolts who cowardly took his life. With eyes shut tight, the young man’s countenance barely showed his pain or regret. He was stiff and distant, left shamelessly in the morgue by his friends.
Many believed he deserved a life free from the bruises and purple blood clots which stained his body. The fratmen dismissed him as a mere “casualty that couldn’t be avoided.”
The truth about Mendez could not be expediently ascertained. The public must hear from witnesses and tale-mongers who, intentional or not, twisted testimonies, confused chronologies and blurred the identities of those behind the crime. This pattern was seen in Gonzalo Mariano Albert, Leonard Villa, Monico de Guzman, Leonel Mendoza, Edward Domingo, Rafael Albano, Jr., Alexander Miguel Icasiano, Fernando C. Balidoy, Jr., Dominador Tunac, Marlon Villanueva and other seemingly inconsequential names whose lives might have been productive without hazing.
Investigators aim for an “air-tight” case before someone is charged. A simple case of manslaughter may turn into an elaborate yarn of a crime which shoos away punishment and dispels trust in the legal process. Evasiveness has been part of homicide scripts which take years to solve; whenever, if ever.
Self-interest and frat loyalty might be stronger than our duty for society’s common purpose. Collectively, we might believe brotherhood could sometimes be taller than the law and more powerful than our president. In the senate alone, at least 9 out of 24 members count themselves as frat members or affiliates.
Leaders thought a frat ban could stop hazing deaths, but others counter “brod is thicker than water.” Frat dissolution seemed impossible in groups that count among their members “illustrious brothers” who are powerful in government, military, schools, healthcare, business et cetera. Shhhh! Who then say fraternities are bad?
The anti-hazing law which prescribes life-time jail sentence (reclusion perpetua) has been ignored in our jurisprudence and remains largely unheeded in UP or elsewhere in the country. Wherever violent frats have taken root, injuries and deaths happen.
Officials like Sen. Francis Pangilinan, without a decisive action plan, calls for “frat crackdown.” Sen. Miriam Defensor demands for abolition because “the anti-hazing law failed to curve deaths.” Juan Ponce Enrile lamely scolds fellow brods for being “trainers of thugs and killers.” With these limp advices and admonitions, how much can we change for the better?
It’s clear we’re still hypocritical, ambivalent, and inutile in our approaches to solve the hazing problem. Few of us condemn the duplicity of those who condone physical and psychological harm as a requisite for frat acceptance.
“Who can refuse brods who promise connections in school and after graduation?” asks a UP law frat member who may one day be our leader.
“Weather, weather lang yan,” says Pres. Joseph Estrada. The debate on hazing death turns ludicrous when a brod concludes: “It’s his fault because he joined our fraternity.”
Many agree the system of patronage must stop, yet we allow mafia-like connections for we somehow want the windfall from fraternities’ filial nurturing, mutual admiration, and exclusive symbiosis. We shoot for benefits, but brush aside the stark immorality of some of our ways. Only when a brother dies violently that we think about what is bad with the frat system.
There’s little drive to make the anti-hazing law work. Quick fixes, frat protection, and token enforcements with light punishments rule on infractions committed by fratmen. In abject apathy and acquiescence, we embrace the status quo with a meek, but hideous code of silence.
A national anti-hazing day has been piquantly proposed---as if a day of observance would prevent the wolves from maiming the lambs. It is only a matter of time when another Cris Anthony Mendez will be added to the long list of hazing casualties whose killers are supposed to be our “illustrious brothers.”
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About the author: Augusto F. Mesia, M.D., FCAP, FASCP, DPSP is an obstetrical and gynecological pathologist. He writes from Astoria, New York.
