Hazing claims another life; UP in uproar
persæus©
By TJ A. Burgonio, PDI 08-18-98
Violent and dangerous initiation rites, commonly called hazing, were
outlawed three years ago. But the practice continues and it claimed the life
of one young man yesterday.
Alexander Miguel Josef Icasiano, 19, third year student of public
administration at the University of the Philippines in Diliman, died at dusk
Sunday, hours after attending initiation rites of the Alpha Phi Beta
fraternity.
His mother, Corazon, broke down and became hysterical on learning of her
son's death.
''I thought he only figured in a vehicular accident. But it turned out he
died under different circumstances,'' she said in a radio interview.
She appealed to the authorities to give justice to her son. Describing him
as a ''very good boy,'' she said those who killed him should be bothered by
their consciences.
Alpha Phi Beta, founded in 1939, is one of the largest fraternities in the
UP College of Law, and in the UP itself, in terms of membership.
Alex to family and friends, Icasiano was declared dead on arrival at the
East Avenue Medical Center, where four men took him around 5:45 p.m. Sunday,
according to a report from SPO3 Jesus Patriarca, investigator assigned to
the case.
Icasiano's body, clad only in black short pants, bore contusions in the
butt, left shoulder, arms and knees.
''Based on evidence, he was a victim of homicide by mauling,'' Patriarca
said in his report.
It could be ''easily deduced'' that the young man's injuries were due to
''mauling by hazing,'' he added.
One report said the initiation was held at the APB's ''frat house'' along
Mayumi Street in Teachers Village, Quezon City. Another report said it took
place at Vinzons Hall right on the UP campus.
Icasiano was acting chair of Sanlakas-Youth in UP Diliman, a chapter of the
cause-oriented, multisectoral group Sanlakas.
His body now lies at the De Guzman Memorial Chapel in Marikina. His family
lives in Parkland Estate Subdivision in that town.
Frat officers suspended
Because of the new fraternity violence, the Office of the Chancellor in UP
Diliman announced that all officers of Alpha Phi Beta were ''put under
preventive suspension for 30 calendar days,'' effective yesterday, Aug. 17.
In a statement, UP Chancellor Claro T. Llaguno said the suspension was in
line with Rule VI, Section 2, of the Revised Rules and Regulations Governing
Fraternities, Sororities and Other Student Organizations approved by the UP
Board of Regents on Oct. 24, 1995.
Republic Act 8049, or the anti-hazing law enacted on June 7, 1995, bans
brutal forms of initiation and, among several penalties, imposes life terms
on offenders if death, rape, sodomy or mutilation results from the
initiation.
Patriarca said one of the four men who took Icasiano to the hospital
identified himself before security guard Eduardo Querido as Mario Sinampan,
reportedly the fraternity's lord chancellor.
It could not be confirmed, however, if the man was Sinampan himself, or was
just using Sinampan's name.
Hasty departure
Upon learning that Icasiano was dead, the four men reportedly left hastily
in a black Toyota Corolla with Plate No. PKX-432, the same car they used in
bringing him to the hospital.
Sanlakas, parent organization of Sanlakas-Youth, condemned Icasiano's
killing and called for the punishment of all those responsible.
In a statement issued by its spokesman, Wilson Fortaleza, it described
Icasiano as one ''full of dreams and aspirations for a society without
oppression, a society where social justice went hand in hand with social
progress.''
''Like Lenny Villa and Dennis Venturina before, his dreams died with him
because of the fraternity system's twisted, outmoded notions of
brotherhood,'' Sanlakas said.
Villa, an Ateneo law freshman, died of internal injuries from beatings
received while being initiated by the Aquila Legis fraternity in 1991.
Twenty-six members of Aquila Legis have been convicted of homicide and
sentenced to 14 years in prison. The case is on appeal.
Venturina, a member of Sigma Rho and a senior public administration senior
at UP, died in 1994 after being beaten up with steel pipes and baseball bats
allegedly members of the Scintilla Juris fraternity.
Twelve Scintilla Juris members were charged with murder. The case is still
on trial. Ten of the accused are out on bail.
Also in 1991, Joselito Hernandez, a 17-year-old biology sophomore in UP
Baguio, died during initiation by the Scintilla Juris fraternity.
National outcry
These deaths triggered a national outcry over fraternities and their violent
initiation rites.
''We deeply regret the tragic death of Icasiano,'' Llaguno said in behalf of
the UP Diliman community. ''It is sad that this incident happened barely two
weeks after fraternities in the university held a summit to forgo violence
on campus.''
Aside from putting the APB officers under preventive suspension, he said UP
would ''implement the full measure of the law to ensure that those who are
liable are made to answer for their deeds.''
Yesterday afternoon, members of Sanlakas-Youth and allied groups held a
rally and lighted candles near UP's Arts and Sciences Building, where the
APB fraternity members hang around, to protest Icasiano's death.
Last visit to UP
Kristina de los Angeles, 19, a classmate of Icasiano and also a member of
Sanlakas, told police she last saw Icasiano alive around noon Sunday, when
he went to the Sanlakas office in UP.
She said he arrived in his Mitsubishi Lancer with Plate No. TGH-842.
After a while, she said, Icasiano, together with a certain Errol Ramos and
Ericson Taysa, left for APB's frat house along Mayumi Street in Teachers
Village.
Icasiano left his car at UP and entrusted the vehicle's key to De los
Angeles.
Ramos was reportedly a member of both Sanlakas and the fraternity, while
Taysa, like Icasiano, was an applicant for Alpha Phi Beta membership.
At around 5:55 p.m., De los Angeles said Ramos sent a message on her pager,
telling her to call him through a cell phone.
At that time, she was with friends at the SM North Edsa. At that time, too,
Icasiano might have already been dead.
Car and key taken
During the phone conversation, De los Angeles said Ramos told her to go back
to UP and give him the car key, saying that Icasiano had instructed him to
take the car.
When De los Angeles and her friends arrived in UP around 6:30 p.m., she said
Ramos and two companions--a certain Dexter and Ray--were already there.
After being given the key, the three left in Icasiano's car ''toward an
unknown destination.'' The car was found yesterday afternoon at the parking
area of Ever Gotesco along Commonwealth Avenue, Quezon City.
De los Angeles said she learned of Icasiano's death around 7 p.m. Sunday
when his family went to the Sanlakas office to ask about his car.
She said Icasiano decided to join the fraternity after he and several others
attended the pre-initiation meeting on Aug. 11.
Patriarca, the investigator, said in his report that it was not yet known
who owned the Toyota Corolla used in taking Icasiano to the hospital.
He also said he was wondering why Ramos did not tell De los Angeles about
what happened to Icasiano when he was taking the car key and the vehicle.
''Obviously these were done in haste as a result of the death of the
victim,'' he said.
'A gentle person'
In an interview with the Inquirer, Dennis Silvestre, member of the
Sanlakas-Youth, UP Diliman, described Icasiano as a ''very cheerful, gentle
person.''
''I don't know why he was badly beaten up. It would have not have mattered
if he were a troublesome person. But he was not,'' he said.
Another member, who asked not to be named, said Icasiano applied for
membership in Alpha Phi Beta in the hope of becoming one of its leaders
someday.
Alpha Phi Beta counts among its members historian Renato Constantino, Sen.
Robert Barbers, Rep. Heherson Alvarez, Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno and
Oscar Orbos.
Sen. Miriam Santiago urged UP officials to investigate Icasiano's death.
Citing RA 8049, the anti-hazing law, she said the officers and members of
the fraternity who inflicted harm on him must be held liable as principals
and may be penalized with life imprisonment.
''There is no question that the perpetrators disregarded existing laws that
are in place primarily to prevent unfortunate incidents such as this,'' she
said.
She stressed that the law requires the head of the school to assign at least
two representatives to be present during an initiation to ensure that nobody
is harmed.
August 18, 1998
Hazing claims another
life; UP in uproar
persæus©
By Jocelyn Montemayor, Correspondent, Manila Times 08-18-98
TOUGHER anti-hazing laws and a general public distaste for fraternity
violence have failed to prevent the death of a fraternity neophyte from the
University of the Philippines Sunday night.
Members and officers of the UP Alpha Phi Beta fraternity are suspected to be
responsible for the death of 19-year-old UP student Alexander Miguel
Icasiano from the College of Public Administration. Icasiano was left at the
East Avenue Medical Center by his so-called "brods" Sunday night. Doctors
said the hazing victim died even before he reached the hospital because of
internal bleeding.
Police are now trying to track down the fraternity members who took part in
the hazing, through the plate number of the vehicle used to bring Icasiano
to the hospital.
At the same time UP Chancellor Claro Llaguno suspended the officers of the
fraternity's UP chapter for 30 days in accordance with Rule 6 Section 2 of
the Revised Rules and Regulations governing fraternities, sororities and
other student organizations in UP.
School officials assured the police that the UP administration would exert
efforts to help investigators find the fraternity officers and members who
participated in the hazing.
"We assure everyone that the full force of the law as well as punctilious
observance of due process for all concerned shall be brought to bear on this
case. Meanwhile, the officers of the APB have been placed under preventive
suspension by UP Diliman officials in accordance with UP rules," UP
president Emil Javier said in a statement.
"The UP is prepared to provide full assistance to the family of the victim
towards the prosecution of the criminal aspects in the case," said Llaguno
in a statement.
Ironically, just two weeks ago, heads and officers of various fraternities
in UP met to discuss ways to avert on-campus fraternity violence.
Unfortunately, the unwritten rule in most fraternities is that hazing is not
a form of violence, but a test of loyalty and solidarity.
"Icasiano's death casts doubt on the relevance of fraternities in their
present form, particularly on hazing as part of initiation rituals, to the
University and society at large," Javier added.
Violent rites?
Initial investigation by police revealed that the victim, together with a
certain Errol Ramos went to a house along Mayumi Street, Teacher's Village,
Brgy. Piñahan, Quezon City, at 5:25 p.m. to attend the initiation rites of
the Alpha Phi Beta fraternity.
Supt. Salvador Duran, police commander of Central Police District-Station 9
in Anonas, said the victim dropped by the office of Sanlakas, a broad
coalition of cause-oriented groups, to leave his car and keys to Kristina
Delos Angeles, a fellow Sanlakas member.
Delos Angeles recalled that Icasiano said he was going to a gathering of the
fraternity with Ramos and a certain Ericson Taya, Dexter and Rey. Police are
now looking for these students.
Delos Angeles told police that she left the office some hours later, but
returned after the other companions of the victim called her up asking for
the keys to the car.
The victim was then reportedly taken to the East Avenue Medical Center by a
Mario Sinampan and three other companions, who left Icasiano with the
doctors.
Icasiano was declared dead at 6:30 p.m. by Dr. Rando Trinidad. His body
showed multiple contusions and injuries, particularly in the shoulders,
arms, thighs, shanks and knees.
The police have already asked the UP administration to submit a list of
officers and members of the fraternity and their addresses. Authorities are
also tracing the owner of the Toyota sedan (PKX-432) which brought the
victim to the hospital.
Anti-hazing law
Ironically, the fraternity counts as one of its members former senator, now
Laguna governor, Joey Lina, the principal author of the Anti-Hazing law
which was enacted in 1995. Republic Act 8049 was meant to curb the excesses
of fraternities and other similar groups.
The law imposes a penalty of life imprisonment on those responsible for
hazing deaths. Under the law, presence in a hazing incident is also prima
facie evidence of participation as a principal in the crime. The owner of
the house where the hazing was committed will also be held as an accomplice.
Meantime, the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) yesterday ordered all
colleges and universities to strictly impose sanctions against erring
fraternities.
CHED Commissioner Mona Valisno said a 60-day suspension should be meted on
all officers of a fraternity found guilty of starting actions that provoke
violence.
Valisno said that higher educational institutions should suspend a "guilty
fraternity" for one year for the first offense and impose a permanent ban
for the next offense.
Civic worker
Friends and colleagues of Icasiano described him as an active member of
socio-civic groups. He was also an active member of the Sanlakas youth
group.
"He is an active member, a good leader and a very well-liked person in the
group and in the college," said Judy Ann Chan, head of the Sanlakas youth
affairs following a 90-minute rally around the Diliman campus in Quezon City
yesterday afternoon which was participated in by more than a hundred
students from the College of Public Administration and Sanlakas.
Icasiano, who was the acting chair of the Sanlakas UP chapter, was described
as a kind-hearted, lively and active person who, when engaged in one
project, would devote his time for the success and completion of the
undertaking.
"Alex is actually an artist. Sometimes he would do and even design posters
and pins for Sanlakas, and would even spend his own money to come up with
the materials. He would do anything to help the group and promote
socio-civic works," Chan said.
The youth group leader added that Icasiano made a vow that despite his
connections with the Alpha Phi Beta, Sanlakas and socio-civic works will be
his top priority and love. Icasiano only joined the fraternity last Aug. 11.
"He made a promise to the group that he will balance his time between
Sanlakas and the APB, dahil first love niya talaga ang socio-civic," Chan
said.
Apart from the wake being held at the Guzman Memorial Chapel along JP Rizal,
where the body of Icasiano lies, the UP College of Public Administration has
declared a week-long mourning period, with vigils to be conducted at
Vinzon's Hall starting today.
--With a report from Richel Langit
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Napanice
pre-meditated murder? Deaths from hazing has occurred many times
in the past so it's therefore inexcusable to say that it was never
anticipated. I hold not only the frat officers responsible but
also the Regents of UP who were fully aware of the history of
fatalities in hazing and their lack of positive controls that
could have prevented this incident. It's highly possible that new
recruits were never fully aware of the existing laws against
hazing or they were coerced into submitting to the process without
being told of the consequences.
Napanice