As state witness, Aegis Juris Fraternity member Marc Anthony Ventura will be excluded in the charges of murder, hazing and obstruction of justice filed with the Department of Justice (DoJ) in the death last month of University of Santo Tomas (UST) law freshman Horacio Castillo III.
“Mr. Ventura will be dropped as a respondent. That would be a consequence of his being a state witness,” DoJ Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II said yesterday.
The criminal charges were filed against 37 individuals by Castillo’s parents and the Manila Police District (MPD) after Ventura submitted a tell-all six-page affidavit to the DoJ last week.
Ventura, who was found to be a credible witness, had earlier been accepted to the full coverage of the government’s witness protection program (WPP) as a state witness.
“For you to be qualified under WPP, you should not appear to be the most guilty. And he (Ventura) is not the most guilty upon our assessment,” Aguirre said.
“We saw that it was very voluntary on his part to testify. He said he’s ready to face the consequences of his decision with respect to his membership in the fraternity. He’s willing to be expelled,” he added.
Ventura, in his affidavit, said that 23 members of the Aegis Juris fraternity were present during Castillo’s initiation rites held in the fraternity’s library before dawn last September 17.
Aside from the 14 members earlier identified, Ventura gave nine new names in the persons of Edric Pilapil, Zach Abulencia, Daniel Ragos, Dave Felix, Sam Cagalingan, Alex Cairo, Luis Kapulong, Kim Cyrill Roque and Ged Villanueva.
In his affidavit, Ventura also confirmed the participation in the initiation rites of fraternity president Arvin Balag, master initiator Axel Munro Hipe, and 12 other members Ralph Trangia, Oliver John Audrey Onofre, Mhin Wei Chan, Daniel Hans Matthew Rodrigo, Karl Matthew Villanueva, Joshua Joriel Macabali, Marcelino Bagtang, Zimon Padro, Jose Miguel Salamat, Leo Lalusis, Alex Bose and Robin Ramos.
Ventura said that the initiation rites started at 2 am. last September 17 with a prayer. He said those present required Castillo to do some stretching first before the initiation rites.
He said the fraternity members started the hazing by punching Castillo’s arms and used spatulas to reduce the swelling and calm the muscles, before hitting him with paddles.
He pointed out that after the third hit, the initiators asked Castillo if he could still endure the process to which he (Castillo) answered “yes.” After the fourth hit at about 5 a.m., Castillo collapsed, Ventura said. Then, the initiators summon John Paul Solano, who has a medical background, to help revive Castillo, he said.
He said that the fraternity members have already carried Castillo to a pickup vehicle and were about to bring him to the hospital when Solano arrived. Castillo was brought back to the library, he added.
But when Solano failed to revive Castillo, that was the time the fraternity initiators brought him (Castillo) to the Chinese General Hospital where the neophyte was declared dead on arrival. (Rey Panaligan)