Zubiri eyes life term for culprits in fatal hazing of PCCr student

Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri on Thursday said all individuals involved in the hazing death of a 25-year-old student of the Philippine College of Criminology in Manila should spend the rest of their lives in jail.

Zubiri called on the authorities to ensure the arrest and swift prosecution of the fraternity members who took part in the initiation rites that resulted in the death of Ahldryn Leary Bravante.

He said the latest incident of fraternity violence was appalling as it happened barely eight months after 22-year-old John Matthew Salilig died during the welcoming rites of the Tau Gamma Phi fraternity.

At least 12 members of the same fraternity were said to be behind Bravante’s death, including four who were already in police custody.

“This senseless death of another young student due to barbaric fraternity tradition is not only enraging, but frustrating as well as it happened despite our efforts to put more teeth to the law against fraternity hazing,” Zubiri said.

The senator spearheaded the passage of Republic Act No. RA 11053, or the Anti-Hazing Act of 2018, after Horacio “Atio” Castillo III, then a freshman law student at the University of Santo Tomas, was beaten to death by members of Aegis Juris fraternity in 2017.

“Needless to say, the full force of the law must come down on those soulless people who killed the same person they claim to be as their brother,” Zubiri said.

“We should put an end to these acts of savagery. Let’s ensure that those who mock our system of justice would be made to account for their misdeeds,” he added.

Meanwhile, Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte extends her condolences to the family of Bravante Criminology student who was killed in a hazing incident in an abandoned building last Monday night.

“The Quezon City government strongly condemns the hazing incident involving a student of the PCCr that led to his demise,” she said.

“Once again, this incident demonstrates that hazing is a life-threatening practice that violates the principles of human dignity. Physical harm and violence through hazing and other initiation rites should be abhorred and condemned  in accordance with Republic Act 11054 or the Anti-Hazing Act of 2018,”