A Baguio City court has found two Philippine Military Academy cadets guilty of slight physical injuries in the case of Darwin Dormitorio, who died due to alleged hazing in September 2019.
In a 92-page ruling, Baguio City Municipal Trial Court in Cities Branch 1 Judge Roberto Mabalot sentenced Julius Carlo Tadena and Christian Zacarias to 30 days in prison.
He ordered them to each pay the Dormitorio family P100,000 in moral damages and P50,000 in attorneys’ fees.
Zacarias, initially charged with less serious physical injuries, allegedly kicked the right side of Dormitorio’s body on the morning of September 17, 2019, after Dormitorio failed to follow his instructions to get up from the bunk bed and stand straight.
Dormitorio had been holding his stomach and was in pain after he was allegedly maltreated by other cadets in the previous weeks.
Tadena, on the other hand, was initially charged with serious physical injuries for allegedly using a taser on Dormitorio’s scrotum in the evening of the same day.
Dormitorio was found unconscious the next day, September 18, 2019, and was declared dead at 5:15 a.m. at the PMA Hospital.
Meanwhile, three doctors were acquitted of reckless imprudence resulting in homicide.
Capt. Flor Apple Apostol and Major Ma. Ofelia Beloy attended to Dormitorio when he was rushed to the PMA hospital on September 17, the day before he died, while Lt. Col. Caesar Almer Candelaria was the former commanding officer of the hospital.
The Dormitorio family said it was “satisfied” with the ruling against the cadets. They are not happy, however, with the acquittal of the 3
doctors but remain optimistic about the pending administrative case against them before the Professional Regulation Commission.