END TO HAZING PUSHED
SENATOR Francis “Tol” Tolentino, chairperson of the Committee on Justice and Human Rights, sponsored a committee report.on the death of Adamson University student John Matther Salilig due to hazing by Tau Gamma Phi fraternity brothers last February.
After two committee hearings, Tolentino came out with two bills and several recommendations to put an end to hazing.
When he filed the committee report on May 31, Tolentino said he attached Senate Bill No. (SBN) 2270 which seeks to amend Section 8 of Republic Act (RA) 7722 creating the Commission on Higher Education; and SBN 2271 which seeks to amend several provisions of RA 11053 or the Anti-Hazing Act of 2018.
The senator said an impasse on conflicting rules in the implementation of anti-hazing law was raised in the hearings — should schools be allowed to ban fraternities outright thereby preventing existing fraternities from registering with a school? Or should schools be made to adopt a policy that will not ban fraternities but instead make participation and involvement in hazing as the allowable ground for possible dismissal or expulsion?
“This committee is of the position that the better policy for schools to adopt is not to ban fraternities in school premises, but rather to allow them to be registered for purposes of monitoring and supervision and make participation and involvement in hazing as a ground for possible dismissal or expulsion of a student,” Tolentino explained.
