Senator cites PNP data: Only 9 out of 105 hazing cases in 15 years resolved

Only 8.5 percent of hazing cases in the Philippines in the last 15 years have been resolved, the office of Senator Sherwin Gatchalian said Wednesday.

Citing data from the Philippine National Police Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management (PNP-DIDM), Gatchalian's office also said that 12 of the 207 hazing victims in these 105 cases lost their lives.

Moreover, the data showed that 206 out of the total of 393 suspects remain at large. Of the rest, only 15 have been convicted. Thirty have been arrested, while 46 have been acquitted and six are out on bail.

Of 105 cases filed in court since 2002, ten have been dismissed while 21 are still on-going prosecution as of Tuesday.

The death of University of Santo Tomas law student Horacio Castillo III has added to the more than 40 incidents still under investigation.

His body, bruised and covered in burn and candle wax drip marks, was brought to the hospital on Sunday, the day after he attended an event held by his fraternity, Aegis Juris.

On Wednesday, the Department of Justice ordered the Bureau of Immigration to be on the lookout for 16 members of the fraternity.

The Senate public order committee is set to conduct a probe into Castillo's death next week.

Gatchalian, who earlier filed a stronger anti-hazing regulation, or Senate Bill 199, called for the overhaul of the Anti-Hazing Law of 1995 following Castillo's death.

Gatchalian's bill, which aims to prohibit hazing, has been shelved for deliberation before the Senate committee on public order and dangerous drugs since August 1, 2016. — Margaret Claire Layug/BM, GMA News