TO a lot of people, hazing or the holding of initiation rites of a fraternity has no place in civilized society since it has an all-too different view of the word brotherhood.
Too many people have died and when we think that the ones behind fraternities have finally had enough and learned their lesson, we learn of a new death again linked to hazing.
Cadet 4th Class Darwin Dormitorio was only 20 years old when he died of cardiac arrest on September 18 due to hazing. He was supposedly taken to the hospital three times since August and doctors found his body had severe internal injuries due to the blows he suffered.
General Oscar Albayalde, Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief, Dormitorio’s death and called the incident an insult to the whole institution and what it stands for. He said all law-abiding citizens should condemn hazing.
Albayalde, a member of the PMA Sinagtala class of 1986, recalled a protest he and his batch mates staged when they were in their second year to defend two fellow cadets wrongly accused in a hazing incident. Their classmates were about to be dismissed, although they were not involved in any form of hazing.
Albayalde was supposed to talk about that particular protest at the PMA. But because of the Dormitorio hazing, he decided not to proceed with it.
He also challenged the cadets to stamp out hazing in the institution and hoped the Dormitorio’s death would be the last.
Fraternities are all good when they talk of brotherhood. But hazing has no place in a humane society and should be made a heinous crime for its brutality to its victims.
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Dormitorio had a dream that he would one day fight for his country. Unfortunately, his dream crumbled at the very hands of his fellow cadets who were supposed to be his brothers at the academy.
He kept a journal and talked about the brutal beatings he received and the very low morale he felt then.
There was a part where he talked about his family and how he missed them so much after a week of not seeing his loved ones.
He also expressed the fear that he and his batch mates felt over the upcoming arrival of their upperclassmen who were all quite pissed off at the Regular Corps where they belonged.
He also mentioned the name of an official who brutally smashed him in the face and made his nose bleed.
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SHORT BURSTS. For comments or reactions, email [email protected] or tweet @Side_View. Read current and past issues of this column at http://www.tempo.com.ph/category/opinion/firing-line
