Hazing can be avoided if culprits are charged, convicted —solon

Ako Bicol party-list Representative Alfredo Garbin Jr. believes that hazing incidents can only be prevented if the perpetrators themselves would be arrested, charged, and convicted.

Garbin made the remark in the wake of the death of Philippine Military Academy Cadet Fourth Class Darwin Dormitorio due to hazing.

"Ano man ang ilagay natin na batas, walang epekto kapag walang nakikita tayo na kinakasuhan, naaaresto at nakukulong," Garbin told Dobol B sa News TV in an interview on Sunday.

"What really is a deterrent on the commission of a crime is the certainty of arrest and prosecution. Yan talaga ang litmus test natin diyan," he added.

Garbin is an author of the Anti-Hazing Act of 2018 which, according to him, prohibits all forms of hazing.

"What is allowed is initiation rite. But anumang akto, anumang activity that will result in physical or psychological harm will be construed as hazing and will be punishable under the Anti-Hazing Act of 2018," he said.

The Anti-Hazing Act of 2018 also provides stiffer penalties for the act of hazing, Garbin said.

"If a death occurs during hazing, that will be punishable by habambuhay na pagkakapreso at milyong-milyong multa," he said.

Garbin said educational institutions, including the PMA, should do their part in preventing hazing.

This includes, for one, conducting information dissemination campaigns and orientations on the provisions of the anti-hazing law.

"Lahat ng educational institutions, mga school administrations, have the responsibility to register all fraternities and sororities that exist within the school premises," Garbin said.

"And at the same time, [they should] provide faculty members that will serve as advisers and monitor all their activities especially initiation rites with all these fraternities and sororities," he added.

Police earlier disclosed that Dormitorio had died due to hazing. An autopsy showed that the PMA cadet's body bore bruises which could be the result of him being punched and kicked several times.

Following Dormitorio's death, PMA superintendent Lieutenant General Ronnie Evangelista and Commandant of Cadets Brigadier General Bartolome Bacarro have resigned from their posts in the academy.

The PMA has also identified Cadet Third Class Shalimar Imperial and Cadet Third Class Felix Lumbag as those with "direct participation" in Dormitorio's hazing, while Cadet First Class Axl Rey Sanupao allegedly "encouraged maltreatment" against the 20-year-old cadet. —Erwin Colcol/LBG, GMA News