Father believes son died in hazing

LABRADOR, Pangasinan - The father of the Philippine Military Academy plebe who died on Saturday believes his son and namesake, Cadet Fourth Class Monico de Guzman Jr., died of hazing, contrary to the claims of PMA officials.

A teary-eyed Monico Sr. said his son was very strong and had never been hospitalized, belying the claim of PMA officials that the plebe may already have been ill when he reported to the PMA on April 1.

"He was never hospitalized since he was a child. He was very strong," Monico Sr. said at their home here where the fallen cadet will be buried on April 18.

The cadet had just been admitted to the PMA and was undergoing the boot camp PMAers call "beast barracks" when he died at the Baguio General Hospital (BGH) on April 7.

Monico Sr. also questioned why the PMA representatives who fetched them from their home on Saturday morning refused to admit to them that Monico Jr. had already died before dawn.

"We kept asking them but they never told us that Mocs (Monico Jr.’s nickname) had already died. We only came to know about it when we were already at the hospital," he said.

Monico Sr. said the PMA chaplain he identified only as Juan and a certain Lt. Glenn Dizon only told them to go with them to Baguio because Monico Jr. was in "serious condition."

PMA Superintendent Maj. Gen. Manuel Carranza Jr. earlier ruled out hazing as the cause of De Guzman’s death based on medico-legal findings.

On orders of Armed Forces chief of staff Gen. Diomedio Villanueva, Carranza yesterday told The STAR he will submit the result of the autopsy on De Guzman late Saturday "with the help of the local (unit) of the National Bureau of Investigation."

The NBI regional office, however, denied receiving any autopsy request from the PMA.

The STAR learned instead that the autopsy had been conducted by a certain Dr. Patrick Mapezo of the Baguio General Hospital.

However, the hospital’s director, Dr. Manuel Factora, refused to reveal details of the autopsy supposedly because the final tests have not been completed.

Monico Sr. pleaded that there should be no white-wash in an independent autopsy that he wanted to be conducted on his son.

A PMA statement on Sunday said a "cursory examination of De Guzman’s body conducted by the medical officer on duty at the plebe barracks showed no hematoma telltale signs of severe beating."

The statement said De Guzman died of "acute respiratory distress syndrome."

Carranza said hospital records showed De Guzman had water in his lungs which doctors at the Baguio General Hospital tried to pump out, but the machine, along with a respirator, stopped functioning due to a Luzon-wide power outage.

The patient’s blood pressure subsequently plunged to 30 over zero, which in turn precipitated cardiac arrest, prompting the attending physicians to apply cardio-pulmonary resuscitation.

De Guzman died exactly 24 hours after he was transferred to the BGH from the PMA Station Hospital at Fort Del Pilar where he was initially diagnosed to be afflicted with hypoglycemia or dehydration.

The PMA statement claimed De Guzman initially suffered a nose bleed while attending his classes on April 3, or two days after their admission into the PMA.

The following day, the plebe collapsed anew while marching to the dining hall for lunch.

He was taken to the PMA hospital but was discharged the next day after he showed substantial improvement and was placed on full-duty status.

On April 4, the physical education department conducted its first physical diagnostic tests on the plebes and De Guzman allegedly scored lower than a similar test conducted in October.

Another plebe, Mark Anthony Caraan, was still fighting for his life at the BGH due to "kidney problems secondary to dehydration."

Hospital authorities indicated that Caraan may be airlifted to the AFP Medical Center along V. Luna, Quezon City as soon as his physical condition allows a transfer.

De Guzman and Caraan were part of a batch of 165 new entrants admitted into the PMA on April 1.

Carranza had earlier said the two plebes, or PMA freshmen, "could not take the training" which is traditionally very rigid.

He said the PMA cannot afford to relax its rules just for the two cadets who were diagnosed by the PMA infirmary as being dehydrated. They were advised to take at least eight glasses of water everyday.

Carranza also noted that two casualties out of 165 new cadets is still a low percentage.

He said PMA entrants are not exactly perfect specimens of physical fitness.

De Guzman’s uncle, a certain Major Mislang, is reportedly connected with the PMA’s PE department. It has been generally perceived that cadets related to ranking government or military officials were favorite targets of hazing.

De Guzman became the second PMA cadet to die within one month. Last March 10, Cadet Edward Domingo of Camiling, Tarlac died of cardio-respiratory failure due to injuries allegedly from hazing. — Eva de Leon, Cesar Ramirez, Aurora Alambra