A neophyte senator has renewed his call for the approval of an anti-hazing legislation after the recent hazing of an 18-year-old Tourism student in Manila who suffered physical and mental abuses in the hands of members of a sorority.
“Hazing has absolutely no place in modern society. We must replace the 20-year-old law by passing a new one with more teeth to bring offenders to justice,” said Win Gatchalian, principal author of Senate Bill No. 199 or the proposed Anti-Hazing Act of 2016.
If passed into law, Gatchalian’s bill would repeal and replace Republic Act No. 8049, the Anti-Hazing Law of 1995 and imposes tougher measures.
Hazing in this case was troubling because the victim was harassed into joining the sorority. The senator said.
“Violent youth who subject their fellow students to such debased treatment must be punished to the full extent of the law, and the law should provide for absolutely zero tolerance for hazing in any school, community, or organization,” he said.
The Southern Police District identified the victim “Anna,” second-year student, of 30 Balagtas St., Balagtas Villas, Pasay City.
Police added that the victim suffered severe beating during the hazing incident that took place last Jan. 8 in an abandoned house situated at Ocampo St. in Las Piñas City.
The suspects were named as one alias Yonara, Yuna, Marie and Brandy, said to be members of Tau Gamma Fraternity and classmates of the victim.
The victim’s mother told police that according to her daughter, the suspects asked her to join them for an outing in Las Piñas City. She was also asked to bring food, candle and sack.
When they arrived at the abandoned house, Anna said the suspects threatened to kill her if she refused to join their fraternity, prompting her to submit herself to the whims of the suspects subjecting her to hazing initiation rites.
Anna was whipped with a belt and hit with a piece of wood (2×2).
The mother told police that she learned of what happened to her daughter the following day (January 9) when Anna’s friend told her elder daughter about it.
She said she confirmed the suffering of her daughter, whose body also bore cigarette burn marks, when she confronted her after locking herself in her room.
