Death by hazing is murder most evil, 1

BY FR. SHAY CULLEN 

WHAT savage animal instinct overcomes a human being when he gets the opportunity and power as a member of a group to inflict pain, suffering and hurt on another human being?

The members of fraternities come together and seem to enjoy the power and the pleasure of sadism as they torture and beat another human to death. This is not a historical past event that happened in a Nazi concentration camp, in a Russian torture chamber or in an ISIS prison camp. It happens frequently in the so-called Catholic universities of the Philippines as well as in state universities as in the prestigious University of the Philippines.

The brutal and savage murder on Feb. 18, 2023 of a young student, John Matthew Salilig, after 70 blows to all parts of his body during a crazed frenzy of continual beating with wooden paddles during a hazing ritual of a fraternity initiation happened at the hands of his fellow students of the Catholic Adamson University.

Did the students and teachers of Catholic Adamson University, run by the Vincentians, condemn the killings as murder most foul, demand justice for John Matthew Salilig and insist that charges be brought? I don’t think so, according to their official statement on his death. They wore black shirts and had a Mass in sympathy.

What kind do this sort of brutal evil if they are taught Christian values of respect for the human rights and dignity of every human person?

They tried to cover up their crime of murder. They carried the body of the 24-year-old dead chemical engineering student to a car and buried the victim in a shallow grave. 

A week later, his body was discovered in the vacant lot in Imus, Cavite. The autopsy report said he died from severe blunt force trauma suffered during the brutal fraternity initiation rites. His brother, Michael Salili, filed a formal complaint of a violation of the anti-hazing law against six suspects.

Over previous years, there have been similar murders by fraternity members that beat their new members to death in a killing frenzy during a fraternity initiation rite. John Matthew is No. 58 of the listed victims of hazing murders by Wikipedia which they say is not complete. There have been several at the University of the Philippines.

I asked one victim who barely survived a hazing by a fraternity at the University of the Philippines to tell us what happened to him. Here is his story. 

“As a freshman in the university, I wanted to ‘belong’ and I thought joining a fraternity is the way to go. Fraternity members are aggressive in recruiting members as it is the life line of the fraternity. They convince possible recruits by mentioning the names of ‘illustrious’ members – like this senator and that congressman, for example. These senators and congressmen, and many others in the high echelon of society, are in fact members of fraternities so for them ‘hazing’ is an open secret.

“They also make membership to a fraternity very attractive. They inculcate the belief that ‘brotherhood’ merits priority at all times. You can have access to review materials when taking the bar exam or any other board exam. Once you’ve graduated from the university, they offer possibilities of connecting you to influential people.” (To be continued)/PN