TEN fraternity members were found guilty by the Manila Regional Trial Court for the fatal hazing of University of Santo Tomas (UST) law freshman Horacio “Atio” Castillo III in 2017.

Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 11 Acting Presiding Judge Shirley Magsipoc-Pagalilauan sentenced fraternity head Arvin Balag and members Mhin Wei Chan, Axel Munro Hipe, Oliver John Audrey Onofre, Joshua Joriel Macabali, Ralph Trangia, John Robin Ramos, Jose Miguel Salamat, Danielle Hans Matthew Rodrigo, and Marcelino Bagtang, Jr. to reclusion perpetua, or up to 40 years of imprisonment over the death of Castillo.

Judge Magsipoc-Pagalilauan also ordered the accused to indemnify the heirs of Castillo “to jointly and severally pay the heirs of Castillo P461,800 in actual expenses, P75,000 as civil indemnity, P75,000 as moral damages, and P75,000 as exemplary damages.”

The court said all the amounts shall earn interest at the rate of six percent per annum upon finality of the decision until fully paid by the accused.

Castillo was 22 years old when he succumbed to severe beating after the initiation rites of the Aegis Juris fraternity in September 2017. He was declared dead on arrival at the Chinese General Hospital.

In 2019, the Manila Metropolitan Trial Court Branch 14 found Solano guilty of obstruction and sentenced him to two to four years imprisonment.

Solano brought the unconscious Castillo from the frat library to the Chinese General Hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival. He initially told police that he saw Castillo lying on the road and covered with a blanket.

“In this case, the act of hazing and the participation of the 10 accused in the hazing were duly proven not only thru prima facie evidence of their presence but also by direct evidence through the categorical statement (of Mark) Ventura, a hazing participant turned state witness,” the court said in the decision.

AUTHOR PROFILE

Bhaby See