Mindanao student dies from alleged fraternity initiation rites

KIDAPAWAN City—An agriculture student of a university in Mindanao died supposedly after undergoing fraternity initiation rites in Kabacan town in North Cotabato on Saturday, a police official said Sunday.

Kabacan town police chief Senior Inspector Ronnie Cordero identified the fatality as Bobong Bualan, 26, a student from the University of Southern Mindanao (USM).

Cordero said Bualan, a resident of Barangay Poblacion, succumbed to injuries caused by "hard object."
 
“We don’t discount the possibility that the victim might be a member of a fraternity. Our investigators are conducting an investigation at the supposed place of the initiation rites,” Cordero told GMA News in a phone interview.

Also he said authorities are investigating those possibly responsible for the initiation rites.
 
On the other hand, a USM student who declined to be identified said  the victim was a neophyte member of the local Triskelon Fraternity in Kabacan.
 
Meanwhile, case investigator Senior Police Officer 2 Kenneth Garbin said the victim went to his rented boarding house near Aglipay Street very weak and with bruises in his legs and some parts of the body.
 
While sitting on a bench, the victim collapsed, prompting his fellow boarder to rush him to nearby Kabacan Medical Specialist Center, but the attending physician pronounced Bualan dead upon arrival, Gabrin added.
 
Also, he said police investigators found several contusions in the victim’s body.
 
“We will coordinate with USM management in order to determine if the victim is a member of a fraternity as point of origin of our investigation,” Garbin said. —Williamor A. Magbanua/LBG, GMA News