December 2009; Glacy Monique Dimaranan was slain in hazing with adviser present.
May 2011; EJ Karl Intia allegedly died from the injuries he got from the initiation rites.
February 2012; Marvin Reglos died from the beatings he got from the hazing.
August 2012; Marc Andre Marcos dies due to severe injuries from hazing.
Just last Saturday, Guillio Servando died from the fraternity hazing with other three fellows found severely injured.
There aren’t any actual concrete statistics on the number of students who die because of hazing. Besides those who make it on the news, there are other people who suffer from some fraternities’ initiations; not everyone admits they have been hazed. Assuming that there is only one who dies each year, it is still one too many.
Hazing is not new to our ears. It is also known that a public apology won’t bring those students back alive. Once in a while, we hear about it in the radios, televisions or read about it on the internet and the newspaper. From these incidents, the government created the Anti-Hazing Act and some universities prohibits students or some, just the freshmen to join any fraternities or sororities.
Surely, the most recent case ignited anger and gushed out tears from those who heard about it and especially those who are closely related with the fellows. There are laws, indeed, but it doesn’t stop these incidents from happening. Students know well what may happen during initiation rights in fraternities; yet is the wanting to belong really overcomes the actual fear of becoming just someone dead on the newspaper? When will these deaths stop then?
We have the Anti-Hazing Law, yes, but it doesn’t stop there.
Even the President Benigno Aquino III urged the elderly member of different fraternity groups to stop the hazing; but it doesn’t stop there.
Even if we ban all fraternities, no, it won’t stop there either. Most likely, they will hide deeper underground where the law won’t find them until it’s too late.
Government officials can continue warning them and assuring the rest of the country that those who are involved with the death will pay but the fact that it is still happening despite the Anti-Hazing Act, is proof that it will never stop.
There have been suggestions, however, to actually legalize and to acknowledge the fraternities and the sororities. By those measures, the universities and the officials can overlook their activities. By rules, they won’t be allowed to have an initiation rite without permission. An eye will always be observing them.
Will it stop there? There have been several deaths due to fraternity hazing, with even some of them, unknown to public. One would know that an eye blinks, and just a millisecond, it can happen again.
