1.  ‘It’s a deep cultural problem’: Hontiveros defends PH Hazing law saying it’s already strict 

Senator Risa Hontiveros on Wednesday, March 8 expressed belief that the provisions under the current Anti-Hazing Act of 2018 are already strict and more comprehensive than in the previous version of the law. 

The issue right now, Hontiveros said, is the fact that initiation rites and hazing activities being followed by fraternities and sororities is a “deep cultural problem.”

“It’s really a deep cultural problem. Deeper than any law,” Hontiveros said in an interview on ANC Headstart.

“It (the law) is quite strict and stronger. Kasi yung current Anti-Hazing Law natin ay inamyendahan na nga only recently at pinalakas pagkatapos ng pagpatay kay (Horacio) Atio Castillo also in a fraternity hazing (Because our current Anti-Hazing Law was amended only recently and was strengthened following the killing of Castillo also in a fraternity hazing),” the senator explained.

Hontiveros was referring to Horacio Atio Castillo III, a 22-year old freshman law student at the University of Santo Tomas who reportedly died in 2017 due to hazing injuries inflicted by members of the Aegis Juris Fraternity.

“And by the way yung kasong iyon ng (the case by the) Castillo family is still awaiting judgment of the courts so hanggang ngayon (so until now) justice delayed, justice denied pa iyon,” she pointed out.

“At ito na sumunod itong trahedya sa Salilig family naman na lubos din akong nakikiramay (And now the tragedy of the Salilig family happened and I deeply condole with them). So we are indeed facing a deeper problem,” Hontiveros lamented.

“It is in our cultures. Kailangan harapin yan at i-confront head-on, simula sa ating mga pamilya, sa ating mga tahanan (we need to face it and confront it head-on, starting from our families, in our homes),” the senator pointed out.

The Senate justice and human rights committee on Tuesday, March 7 conducted its initial hearing on the case of John Matthew Salilig, an Adamson University student whose buried body was found in Imus, Cavite. Salilig reportedly succumbed to injuries after going through the initiation rites of the Tau Gamma Phi Fraternity. 

Sen. Francis Tolentino, chairman of the panel, called on academe officials to beef up their monitoring on the activities of “non-recognized” organizations within their respective colleges and universities. 

But Hontiveros said there is a need to compel fraternities and sororities, and similar organizations to police their ranks. 

The senator noted there is no equivalent body that would regulate the activities of such societies, organizations and such, compared to individual universities, colleges and schools that can provide their own handbooks to govern their students and faculty members regarding joining organizations. 

“The challenge in this particular situation is that there are administrations, within faculties, in different academic sectors of universities who are themselves members of these societies and organizations,” the lawmaker also lamented.

“Malalim talagang cultural change ang hinihingi sa atin and just like election-related political violence itong persistent problem ng sorority or fraternity-related violence and killings and injuries, I don’t know the answer right now but it’s a clear and very fair challenge,” she pointed out. 

Hontiveros also noted that even at the level of government, violence, killings and impunity becomes “normalized,” whether election-related political violence or in fraternity hazing killings, as it dates back from the human rights violations of the Martial Law dictatorship to the more recent extrajudicial killings. 

“Baka this is another time (Maybe this is the time), with the killing of John Matthew Salilig, that the leaderships of the fraternities and sororities should come together again to decide how to end these deaths and injuries of their brothers and sisters as they call each other,” the Senate deputy minority leader stressed.