Photo Release

No more senseless death from hazing: Sen. Francis “Tol” Tolentino, during the Committee on Justice and Human Rights' investigation Tuesday, March 7, 2023 on the hazing of Adamson University chemical engineering student John Matthew Salilig who died in the hands of his Tau Gamma Phi fraternity brothers, says a law has been passed against any forms of hazing. Tolentino recalled that Republic Act 11053 or the Anti-Hazing Act of 2018 was enacted after the Senate investigated the death of UST Law student Horacio “Atio” Castillo III in 2018 in the hands of Aegis Juris fraternity members. “The current law that we have is stricter than the old anti-hazing law. It prohibited all forms of hazing. It made everyone present at initiation rites punishable by reclusion perpetua, whether actually taking part in hazing or not,” he said. And yet, the hazing of Salilig happened, the senator said, “all in the name of acceptance to the brotherhood." He suggested the need to fine-tune Republic Act 11053 to give more teeth to the law. “Words cannot express how much the families are grieving now, and we are well aware that the outcome of this hearing will no longer bring back the life already lost. So, to give justice not only to the death of Mat-mat Salilig but the other victims of senseless death due to hazing, the goal of this committee is to craft a policy and come up with a legislation that will ensure that no more senseless death like this will ever happen again in the future,” Tolentino said. (Voltaire F. Domingo/Senate PRIB)