At long last, it appears our lawmakers have hit upon two missing elements that would make the Anti-Hazing Law really a potent tool in preventing death and injury to neophytes or would-be members of Greek letter fraternities during obligatory initiation rites.
The Senate committees on justice and human rights, as well as public order and dangerous drugs, after a joint hearing on a recent hazing case, concluded: “While RA 8049 and RA 11053 did not shy away from imposing heavy punishment on those who inflict harm, even imposing liability on school officials, and barangay, municipal, or city officials, both laws, however, have inadvertently missed to include in the consideration of penalties the third, but most important, personality in every hazing-related death—the fraternity, sorority, or organization itself.”
Hence, their first recommendation is to require fraternities and sororities to register in a police database.
This way, members of a fraternity that figure in cases of fatal hazing incidents within a certain geographical area can be identified and perhaps summoned to give information on what they know about the case.
The failure or refusal of the organization to comply with this requirement “shall be prima facie presumption of the organization’s illegal activities,” the senators said.
We do not know if this recommendation will pass muster among lawyers, not a few of whom graduated from law schools where frats recruit members.
They will probably scoff at this proposal as unlawful as this would make every member and even founders or alumni automatically “persons of interest” or even suspects in homicide or murder cases whenever a frat neophyte dies in an initiation rite.
Or perhaps violate the principle of presumption of innocence of those implicated in criminal cases, we don’t know.
The other recommendation is to make fraternities, sororities and similar organizations involved in the death or injury of neophytes in initiation rites liable to pay a hefty fine amounting to P20 million on top of the costs of litigation to the families of the victim.
Deaths or injuries proven to be caused by such organizations’ initiation rites would then result in the automatic cancellation of its SEC certificate or registration, as well as the declaration of the group as an illegal organization which makes its founders, officers and members punishable under the law.
Again, we do not know if this will violate any legal precept or jurisprudence.
Let the lawyers clarify whether this is a sound recommendation from the legal point of view.
But one thing is clear: It is time to put an end to killing in the name of brotherhood.
If fraternities, sororities and similar organizations continue with deadly initiation rites despite the Anti-Hazing Law, then they should be ready to face a court of law and the prospect of long jail terms in our overcrowded and desolate-looking penitentiaries.
Apart, of course, from paying P20 million in compensation to the families of neophytes whose lives were brutally snuffed by those who they thought were their ‘brothers.’