NBI finds 2 PNPA cadets hurt in hazing

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) identified yesterday two Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA) cadets being treated in a hospital for suspected hazing injuries, that have already claimed the life of one police cadet.

NBI Special Task Force (STF) chief lawyer Max Salvador named the two cadets as Robert Marigza and Gilbert Remo. The two are undergoing dialysis at the Chinese General Hospital.

This, as the NBI revealed its most damning evidence so far -- two statements, including one from a PNPA official, to whom the cadet fatality, Dominante Tunac, confessed that he underwent hazing.

Tunac died last May 15, three days after collapsing in suspected "initiation rites" welcoming the cadets into the PNPA, although hazing has been outlawed.

Tunac, 25, was found to have died of pneumonia after his resistance was weakened by an internal hemorrhage in his kidney. Salvador said the kidney of Tunac was ruptured by a blow from a blunt instrument to his lower back.

"Tunac's death is definitely not natural nor accidental," said Salvador. Tunac had initially kept the cause of his injury secret.

The NBI has so far interviewed seven upper classmen of Tunac and six of his batch mates. They have denied knowledge of any hazing, including Marigza and Remo, who were interviewed in their hospital beds by the NBI, said the STF chief. --