By VANNE TERRAZOLA
John Paul Solano, one of the main suspects in the killing of first-year law student Horacio “Atio” Castillo III, has named at least six members of the Aegis Juris fraternity involved in the fatal hazing.
Senator Miguel Zubiri yesterday said Solano revealed the identities of the fraternity members present in the initiation rites during the executive session following the Senate inquiry Monday night.
“Maganda ang nangyari dun sa executive session dahil ibinunyag nya ung nangyari at nag-tell all siya sa amin…He named at least six frat members and mahalaga yan sa imbestigasyon and he mentioned a lot of details,” Zubiri said in an ambush interview.
Senators on Monday night decided to talk to Solano in an executive session after he repeatedly invoked his right to self-incrimination in the four-hour hearing on Castillo’s case.
Despite his surrender, legal counsel Paterno Esmaquel said multiple cases filed against him without undergoing preliminary investigation.
Zubiri said Solano’s revelation showed the involvement of the fraternity members in the death of the 22-year-old University of Santo Tomas (UST) student. He added that they are convinced that the suspect was telling the truth.
Solano, a medical technologist, earlier during the hearing, said Aegis Juris members only called him for medical assistance on Sunday morning.
During the executive session, Zubiri said Solano saw six of his fraternity brothers when he arrived in the library in Sampaloc, Manila to perform first aid to an already unconscious Castillo.
The same fraternity members were the ones who led Solano to the Chinese General Hospital, and the ones who had ordered him to lie in his initial statement to the Manila Police District (MPD), Zubiri said.
The names would later be divulged in Solano’s sworn affidavit that he will file before the Department of Justice (DoJ).
“Very heavy ang mga information, mabigat ang mga impormasyon na ibinigay niya para sa kasong ito and makakatulong ito sa MPD to solve the case,” he said.
Esmaquel, Zubiri said, also admitted that a faction of senior Aegis Juris members “wants to protect the members.”
The lawyer, one of the founders of the fraternity, said they wanted to clear the group’s name so they are urging the senior members to let those involved be held accountable.
The senator, a close friend of the Castillo family, said he then relayed to the slain student’s parents Solano’s confessions.
