NBI to quiz 2 docs, 3 students on UP hazing death

The National Bureau of Investigation has invited for questioning two doctors, a hospital officer, and three University of the Philippines students to shed light on the death of Cris Anthony Mendez, believed to have been a victim of fraternity hazing. Among those to be questioned is Dr Francisco Cruz, who reportedly took Mendez to the Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC) in Quezon City, where the doctor also said to be an ophthalmologist. Quezon City police said Monday that Cruz is willing to testify on the incident to clear his name and that of his son, Miguel, who is a resident member of the Sigma Rho fraternity suspected in the hazing death. Lawyer Romulo Asis, chief of the NBI Anti-Terrorism Division, said Cruz's testimony would be key because the doctor and a young man said to be his son were seen by VMMC security guard Jonathan Garduce when Mendez was taken to the hospital at about 1:08 am of August 27. In his testimony before the NBI, Garduce said Cruz arrived aboard a Toyota Innova car (plate number ZAB-393). A few minutes later, two more vehicles, an Isuzu Trooper (XAS-548) and a Nissan Frontier (WGL-515) arrived. An attending physician at the VMMC, Dr Daphne Gascon, will also be questioned to establish the cause of the victim's death. "We would know from Dr. Gascon who attended on the victim if the victim died from hazing or not," investigators said. The NBI will also question VMMC administrative officer Dolores Geronimo. The 20-year-old Mendez was buried Sunday in his hometown of Tiaong, Quezon. Police will also question Ariel Paolo Ante, Fuzzy Clemente and Rina Reyes, students at the UP National College of Public Administration and Governance (NCPAG), who were last seen with Mendez. The first two are believed to be Sigma Rho members. The NBI has also called on the UP Sigma Rho fraternity to cooperate on the ongoing probe. The group has been blamed for Mendez's death, but nobody has yet come in to confirm it. Hospital records show that Cruz rushed a severely bruised Mendez to the VMMC at dawn of August 27 but the victim was declared dead on arrival. A group of men had allegedly first taken Mendez to the doctor's residence at about Sunday late night. The UP administration, which has vowed to fully cooperate with authorities in the investigation, have slapped a 30-day preventive suspension on UP Sigma Rho officers Raul Drapilon, Ronald Chua, Andew dela Rosa and Armand Sapitan. "We wish to assure the Mendez family and the general public that the University is doing its best to ensure that those responsible for his death are made to face the bar of law," the UP administration said in a statement. -GMANews.TV