By MARTIN SADONGDONG
The Philippine Military Academy has called on a social media user to cooperate with authorities after he claimed in a Facebook post that drowned PMA Cadet Fourth Class Mario Telan Jr. was also a victim of hazing.
A certain Jose Larry Hermoso IV posted on his Facebook account cropped pictures of what appears to be a letter allegedly written by Telan himself. The letter supposedly contained details of maltreatment the 20-year-old cadet experienced in the hands of his upperclassmen inside the premier military training institution based in Baguio City.
Hermoso, in his post, claimed Telan underwent hazing for three to four months before he died on Nov. 8. Telan’s body was found at the bottom of the PMA’s 15-foot deep pool after he failed to surface during a session of their swimming lesson.
In one part of the letter, it was written: “Well, aaminin ko, nabubugbog ako dito, sinisipa, tinutuhod, china-chop (sinusuntok sa leeg, sa adam’s apple in particular) pero kaya ko pa naman. Ang hindi ko lang kaya i-attitude is ‘yung charge or kuryente.”
“Minsan sa sobrang lungkot dito sa mga ginagawa sa akin, ito na lang ang ginagawa ko: Pupunta sa loob ng cabinet then doon ko ibubuhos lahat sa pag-iyak at pagkatapos ay lalabas na at lalaban na naman.”
Despite this, Hermoso claimed that Telan still had high respect and admiration on the institution as he believed it was the “system” or “history” that is the problem in the academy.
“I am and always will be aware that not all of PMA’s students are sadistic bastards. Some are victims from them, some a passive audience. Others survive to live another day. Others, fortunately, come through the other side better than all of these combined. It is the system, or rather the history steeped into the walls of the PMA, that I have a problem with,” Telan allegedly said in his parting words.
Hermoso claimed that the letter was handed by Telan to a trusted friend on Oct. 4, 2019. A month later, he died in the PMA swimming pool.
The PMA was “shocked” when they learned about the supposed letter, and encouraged Hermoso to surface and show it to them so they can check its authenticity.
“We were shocked to see the alleged letter of Cadet Telan in the Facebook post of Mr. Hermoso. But just like any other serious matters, we have to take measures according to due process such as checking the veracity and authenticity of the letter, and the identity and intent of the owner of the post,” said Capt. Cherryl Tindog, PMA spokesperson.
“Because the content of the alleged letter and the posts themselves are highly serious allegations with highly serious legal implications, we urge the owner of the post to show us the letter, to talk with us, and to allow PMA to do the appropriate actions to resolve the problem,” Tindog said.
“May we also remind everyone that because maltreatment is a very serious case, it should be handled by proper authorities. Evidences such as the letter should have been given to the police or to us in the PMA so that a case could be filed and processed appropriately according to the proceedings of our judicial system,” she added.
Tindog maintained that the academy “is always open to all well-meaning and truly concerned people” willing to help them address problems concerning the cadets.
In a new social media post yesterday, Hermoso claimed that the letter has been validated to be Telan’s by his own family. “If you’re trying to question if it was really written by Mario Telan, I have three witnesses that attest that it is really Mario Telan’s penmanship and that it is him that wrote the letter, two of them the mother of Mario Telan and Mario Telan’s former college teacher in Cagayan State University,” Hermoso said.
Telan, an Isabela native, was the third cadet to have perished in the academy in two months, following the hazing death of his batchmate Cadet Fourth Class Darwin Dormitorio on Sept. 18, and Cadet Second Class Cedrick Gadia’s death due to esophageal cancer on Oct. 28.
The PMA earlier punished two civilian swimming instructors who were found “negligent and imprudent” in the conduct of the course “Fundamentals of Swimming” which led to the drowning of Telan. Two class marchers and the head of the PMA Sports and Physical Development Unit were also being investigated for possible lapses.
The Baguio police had ruled out the possibility of foul play in the incident while the autopsy on Telan’s body showed he died due to asphyxia by drowning. There were also abrasions on Telan’s body, police noted.
However, the cadet’s mother, Edna, said she visited her son on Nov. 3 and he told her the abrasions were due to their intensive training. It was the last time they saw each other. Edna said her son had expressed intention to resign due to the hard training, but he was encouraged by his squad leader to continue his training after a pep talk.
