Tom blasts frat leaders over Sinulog melee

Mayor Tomas Osmena yesterday lambasted leaders of the warring Alpha Kappa Rho and Tau Gamma Phi for their lack of leadership to control their members over the incident that marred the Sinulog grand parade on Sunday.

"One of the problem of Akhro and Tau is that they lack centralized leaders," Osmeña said.

The mayor said he is open to suggestions over what the city could do to prevent future incidents involving the two groups.

He, however, is not amenable to suggestion banning Akrho and Tau Gamma from joining the Sinulog parade, saying that it would be easier to monitor the groups if they are in one place.

The incident occurred along General Maxilom Avenue where members of each fraternity tried to heckle, throw insults, and upstage each other apparently to grab attention. Shortly after, both sides threw bottles of mineral water and stones at each other, hitting a couple of spectators.

The quick response of policemen cut short the sudden outburst of hostilities but no one was arrested since they could not determine who initiated the melee.

Akrho, which was a parade participant, was allowed later to continue with the parade but policemen had to stay behind to prevent a possible recurrence of the melee.

Meanwhile, an 18-year-old Akrho member was shot by four persons while sitting along the road in Pier 6 Monday evening.

Ariel Espinosa Sanchez, of sitio Mahayahay, Mabolo, was sitting with his friend, Renante Colungan, when he was shot.

The victim, who was rushed to Cebu City Medical Center, was hit in the left hand with the bullet exiting through his wrist and grazed his abdomen.

Two of the assailants were identified only as "Nino" and "Dodong," all residents of Pier 5.

Police Homicide Section chief Mario Monilar sent investigators led by SPO2 Alex Dacua to the area to determine if the incident was fraternity-related. - Garry B. Lao and Norvie S. Misa