SC reverses hazing conviction of two men in 2009 case

The Supreme Court (SC) has overturned the hazing conviction of two suspected members of the Tau Gamma Phi Fraternity in connection with the death of an 18-year-old student in Cavite in 2009.

In a decision dated June 28, the high court’s Third Division reversed the ruling of the Court of Appeals (CA) and acquitted Carlos Paulo Bartolome and Joel Bandalan for failure of the prosecution to prove their guilt beyond reasonable doubt.

It also ordered the immediate release of the petitioners from prison “unless they are being held for some other lawful cause,” the Court said through Associate Justice Henri Jean Paul Inting.

The high court said the prosecution failed to establish that hazing actually took place and that nobody testified that the victim was a recruit, neophyte, or applicant of the fraternity.

“In sum, the circumstantial evidence presented by the prosecution has failed to establish the elements of hazing and to produce an unbroken chain that leads to one fair and reasonable conclusion pointing to petitioners, to the exclusion of others, as the persons liable for the death of (John Daniel) Samparada,” the ruling stated.

“Hence, the petitioners’ conviction for violation of Republic Act 8049 based on circumstantial evidence cannot be upheld,” it added.

According to information filed by the Office of the City Prosecutor, the fraternity allegedly subjected neophyte John Daniel Samparada to physical suffering in October 2009, which led to his death.

Samparada was a college student of the Lyceum of the Philippines in Cavite.

According to the prosecution, during the investigation, police recovered a document from the petitioners that bore the fraternity name and the handwritten name of Bartolome.

Due to this, the police deduced that the petitioners were members of the fraternity.

The prosecution stated the petitioners said that after the hazing they went to Silang, Cavite for an outing, where Samparada lost consciousness.

Bartolome and Bandalan later brought Samparada to Estrella Hospital in Silang.

In September 2014, a Cavite court found the petitioners guilty and sentenced them to reclusion perpetua for violation of Section 4(a) of Republic Act 8049 or the Anti-Hazing Law of 1995.

They were also fined P50,000 each as indemnity for the death of the victim and P100,000 for temperate damages.

The petitioners brought the case to the CA, where they argued that material requirements of circumstantial evidence sufficient for a conviction were wanting.

The CA in August 2016 affirmed the conviction and modified the award damages, increasing the fine to P75,000 each. They were also ordered to pay P200,000 each for moral damages and P100,000 each for exemplary damages.

It also denied the petitioners’ motion for reconsideration in October 2016.

Bartolome and Bandalan then appealed to the SC.  — VBL, GMA News