Court ruling on PMA hazing case out next week

A BAGUIO City court is set to rule next week on the hazing case against several cadets of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) in connection with the 2019 death of 4th Class Cadet Darwin Dormitorio.

Baguio City Regional Trial Court Branch 5 Presiding Judge Ligaya Itliong-Rivera set the promulgation of the case against 3rd Class Shalimar Imperial Jr., Julius Tadena and Felix Lumbag Jr. on August 16, 2024 at 10:30 in the morning.

Lumbag and Imperial are the principal suspects in Dormitorio’s death.

The prosecution in June this year told the court it would not present any rebuttal evidence. The court then gave both sides 20 days to submit their respective memoranda before it issues its decision on the case.

Dormitorio succumbed to injuries allegedly inflicted by his upperclassmen in the elite military academy on September 18, 2019.

He would have graduated as a member of the PMA Madasigon Class of 2023.

The incident has prompted former PMA Commandant of Cadets Bartolome Vicente Bacarro and PMA Superintendent Lt. General Ronnie Evangelista to resign from their posts.