By Jessamyn Guinanao
We all know the feeling of wanting to fit in. Many go above and beyond for a place to call home, in which they feel included. It comes as no surprise that some seek brotherhoods or sisterhoods to guarantee that unique sense of belonging.
“Fraternities and sororities offer an easy way to make friends in an unfamiliar environment,” as stated by Professor Hank Nuwer in an NPR interview. “The collective need to belong is very, very strong.” Roy Baumeister and Mark Leary, authors of the journal article The Need to Belong, describe a sense of belonging as a fundamental human motivation supported by a prevalent and compelling desire, which we constantly strive to find and maintain.
It reaches the point where one voluntarily accepts the ideology of brotherhood, the submission to a system of beliefs, and the commitment to a code of secrecy – often without a second thought. Thus, when students struggle in their early college years to find a social circle and learn that fraternities help foster tight relations instantly, some willingly accept hazing – an initiation rite meant to prove how badly they want in.
Unfortunately, sometimes, that single choice is enough to ruin everything.
We are no strangers to what happens next – a short-lived chorus of outrage, thunders of media buzzwords, press releases with generic remarks of sympathy, and a call for reforms – all unraveling like a pattern each time a young life is lost to hazing.
Have we not seen these several times before? For instance, one would recall the horrifying hazing death of the University of the Philippines-Diliman (UP) student, Horacio “Atio” Castillo, that rattled the entire nation and the Senate. On September 17, 2017, Castillo was punched and paddled for 4 hours before falling unconscious and dying.
The case led to the passing of the equipped Anti-Hazing Act of 2018, which amended the one from 1995. Under the new and improved anti-hazing law, all forms of hazing are illegal. It has been defined as “any act resulting in physical or psychological suffering, harm, or injury inflicted on a neophyte or applicant as part of an initiation rite … in a fraternity, sorority, or organization.”
Unlike the old law, this one penalizes individuals who attempt to cover hazing activities. Those who plan or participate in any hazing ritual that results in death, rape, sodomy, or mutilation will suffer the penalty of Reclusion Perpetua and a fine of Php3 million. This sparked hope that, with a new rule, there would be no repeat of Castillo’s death.
However, four years after this measure was passed, at least nine more hazing deaths have been recorded in the Philippines as of 2022. As if that was not bad enough, just a few days ago, on September 18, a 9th was added to the devastating list.
August Ceazar Saplot was a kind and loving person who dedicated himself to helping his mother and completing his studies to fulfill his dream of becoming a policeman. Tragically, the 19-year-old neophyte in Davao City was found dead due to a violent Alpha Kappa Rho (AKRHO) fraternity hazing. According to a statement issued by the University of Mindanao (UM) on Tuesday, September 20, the incident involved its 4th-year Criminal Justice Education students.
This goes to show that a law not properly enforced is merely a waste of ink. History repeats itself? Wrong. According to contemporary definitions, something is history only when it is “no longer important or existing.” How can hazing violence be deemed history when it has never ceased to exist?
It was present when UP scholar Gonzalo Mariano Albert became the first reported hazing victim in 1954, when Ateneo student Leonardo Villa’s death prompted the Anti-Hazing Act of 1995, or when Philippine Military Army (PMA) Cadet Darwin Dormitono died in 2019, despite the establishment of the revised law.
Based on news reports and records for the Supreme Court, Senate, and House of Representatives, there have been about 50 reported hazing deaths since 1954. These are not simply familiar stories but the same never-ending one. This speaks volumes about the evident need to lessen, if not eradicate, hazing-related fatalities.
Professor Gregory Parks discusses in his article 100 Days of Hazing that if the goal is to eliminate hazing, we must consider all the factors that aid and propel it at every level. These entail current and aspiring members’ beliefs, biases, cognitions, and interpersonal dynamics. In addition, there are also broader organizational (e.g., leadership and operations) and community dynamics (e.g., notions of masculinity or childhood experiences with discipline). Lastly, the role of law and public policy in shaping or failing to shape hazing is also addressed.
These, along with other numerous areas, must be evaluated – and only through such nuanced and sophisticated analysis can meaningful solutions be discovered. Therefore, the people in power or the government must impose stricter implementation with these facets in mind. Must we keep going through the motions of self-flagellation until we forget again, only to remember once the next death happens?
Hazing atrocities have become synonymous with fraternities, tarnishing the image of brotherhood. It is always the cycle of inflicting violence on fellowmen in the name of twisted brotherhood, together with the cycle of grieving parents who seek justice while the guilty flee in silence. It is high time that this cycle ends because young dreams must be protected.
Must we wait for the loss of yet another?