A Manila Regional Trial Court has denied the petition for bail filed by the 10 members of the Aegis Juris Fraternity accused in the fatal hazing of University of Santo Tomas Law freshman student Horacio “Atio” Castillo in September 2017.
In an order dated Dec. 10, 2019, Manila RTC Branch 20 Presiding Judge Marivic Balisi-Umali junked the petition as the “evidence of guilt of each of the accused (is) strong.”
“It was established that the herein victim (Castillo) was subjected to physical injuries and died by reason thereof,” part of the 56-page order, which was released Friday night, said.
Arvin Balag, Mhin Wei Chan, Axel Munro Hipe, Oliver John Audrey Onofre, Joshua Joriel Macabali, Ralph Trangia, Robin Ramos, Jose Miguel Salamat, Danielle Hans Matthew Rodrigo, and Marcelino Bagtang Jr. are the 10 Aegis Juris fratmen tagged in Horacio’s death.
And based on testimony of Mark Ventura, the court said that the prosecution was able to establish that they “were present at the fraternity’s final rites,” and “some of whom were the fraternity officers.”
“It was also established by the prosecution that accused Hipe, Trangia, and Balag delivered blows on the victim using a paddle,” while “others were identified to have delivered blows on the arms of (Castillo),” the court said.
The court added that it is also “not convinced” that Castillo’s death was due to cardiomyopathy and not the severe blunt physical injuries inflicted on his body.
“Even if the victim is suffering from an internal ailment, liver or heart disease, or tuberculosis, if the blow delivered by the accused is the efficient cause of death, accelerated his death or is the proximate cause of (his) death…there is still criminal liability,” it said.
Then 22-year-old Castillo was a freshman at the UST Faculty of Civil Law when he died in the hazing rites of the Aegis Juris Fraternity on Sept. 17, 2017.
Before his death, he went missing until an anonymous person texted his parents to go to the Chinese General Hospital in Manila. His body was later discovered in a funeral parlor, with a bruised body and candle wax drippings on his skin.
In a statement late Friday night, Horacio’s mother, Minnie, welcomed the court’s decision.
“It proves that hazing occurred and Atio died of severe physical injuries and not of a medical condition,” she said.
Minnie also told the Manila Bulletin that they are confident “to get the conviction for this case” and “to get the conviction all the way” for other suspects.
“I guess, malaki ang effect nito sa kaso,” she said.
Minnie also said that they will push through with filing cases against some 20 suspects, who are also implicated in their son’s death.
“Yung ni-name ng judge sa order, sila yung plano naming sampahan,” she said.
“We have evidence that they have participated directly based on testimonies ng witnesses.”
The court’s order is the recent landmark development on Horacio’s case.
In June 2019, John Paul Solano, a fraternity member who brought Castillo to the hospital, was already convicted for obstruction of justice.
Manila Metropolitan Trial Court Branch 14 Judge Carolina Esguerra sentenced him to up to four years and two months in prison. (Joseph Pedrajas)
