Law dean Divina: UST should not be judged for Atio death

University of Santo Tomas Law Dean and Aegis Juris fraternity member Nilo Divina on Thursday said the rest of the UST law community should not be judged for the actions of some of its members.

In an interview on dzBB a day after the Senate hearing on the death of UST law student Horacio “Atio” Castillo III, Divina said the institution “shouldn’t be affected by this isolated incident.”

Divina said the Aegis Juris members implicated for Castillo’s death do not represent the school.

“There are 780 students sa UST (Law). Ilan ba yung involved na yan...kakaunti lang naman. They do not speak for the Faculty of Civil Law,” he said.

While those guilty should answer for their crimes, the incident does not mean all faculty members, students, and non-teaching staff in the university are “bad people,” said Divina.

“‘Yung mga nagkamali ay dapat patawan ng parusa, pero hindi ibig sabihin niyan na lahat na lang nang nasa UST masamang tao, lahat na lang sa UST ay gumawa ng krimen,” he said.

John Paul Solano, one of the suspects in Castillo’s death, tagged six other Aegis Juris frat brothers in the crime.

Thirty other frat members formed a group chat to discuss their actions over Castillo’s death, and it was revealed that some 19 of them met on the same day he died.

Some of the Aegis Juris fraternity members accused of involvement in Atio’s death have, in fact, been kicked out of UST for academic deficiencies, Divina said.

The administration of the 406-year-old Catholic university established an independent commission to get to the bottom of Castillo’s death, said Divina, and he promised “there will be no whitewash” in its investigation.

The investigative committee is composed of the head of the Office for Student Affairs, one dean, and one lawyer in charge of administrative investigations and is unaffiliated with the Aegis Juris fraternity, Divina said.

He had been invited to one of the committee’s meetings to provide background information on the fraternity, he said, further claiming that the investigation will be “clear, objective, impartial and thorough.”

Further, Divina said six or seven of those currently implicated for Castillo’s death have been kicked out from the university prior to the incident for academic deficiencies.

Asked what the scholarly status of the accused students is, Divina said the preventive suspension imposed on them by UST administration was lifted two days after and that they no longer attend class.

Divina also remained steadfast in his claim of innocence, saying his response to Castillo’s death was not “lacking,” but was rather due to a lack of information at the beginning of the case.

He reiterated that he initially received information that a student was killed by hazing, and hours after that, that the student’s surname was Castillo, but that it stopped there until later on.

“Hindi ibig sabihin na nagkulang kami, nagkataon nagkulang ang impormasyon at the time, it was all unconfirmed...” he said.

“...Pagkatapos nilang marinig yung sa Senado, maliwanag naman Mike na--well of course masama yung nangyari kay Atio, nakakalungkot yung nangyari sa kaniya---wag nilang idamay yung mga taong inosente na katulad ko,” he said later in the interview.

He said he enjoys the support of UST students, faculty, management and alumni groups, so he will stay despite a suggestion from Senator Grace Poe for him to consider taking a leave from the deanship amid the ongoing investigation.

Divina was present in Wednesday’s Senate hearing and was seen to approach Castillo’s parents after the proceeding. On Thursday, he said he told them he “will continue to help and assist...to help them get justice for Atio.” — Nicole-Anne C. Lagrimas/RSJ, GMA News