Court orders arrest of 10 Beda fratmen

MANILA, Philippines - A Cavite court has ordered the arrest of 10 members of San Beda-based Lex Leonum fraternity who were allegedly involved in the hazing that led to the death of freshman law student Marc Andre Marcos on July 30 last year.

The Cavite Regional Trial Court Branch 90 ordered the arrest for alleged violation of Republic Act 8049 or the Anti-Hazing Law of accused Jenno Antonio Villanueva, Emmanuel Jefferson Santiago, Richard Rosales, Mohamad Fyzee Alim, Chino Daniel Amante, Julius Alcancia, Edrich Gomez, Dexter Circa, Glenn Meduen, and Gian Angelo Veluz.

Marcos died from extensive traumatic injuries in his upper and lower extremities as a result of alleged initiation rites of the Lex Leonum fraternity at a farm in Dasmariñas, Cavite.

Veluz’s family owns the farm where police said the initiation rites took place.

Judge Perla Cabrera-Faller ordered the issuance of the arrest warrant last June 3.

In October last year, the San Beda College of Law, through its Committee on Student Conduct, approved the penalty of exclusion against 27 of its students found to be members of the Lex Leonum fraternity.

The committee also suspended eight other Bedans who “have shown remorse” after violating the students’ code of conduct.

The committee came out with the list dated Oct. 23, in relation to an administrative investigation on the violation of the college’s students’ code of conduct.

The charges were filed in court after police investigation showed that Marcos underwent hazing along with eight other neophytes.

The police also said they have tagged as many as 34 suspects in the case.

In a sworn statement, Cornelio Marcelo, a member of the fraternity who was present at the initiation, revealed that Marcos underwent four stages of hazing, starting with a “welcome” in which he received 20 blows from a paddle-like wooden bat on his thighs.

Marcos then received no less than 59 more blows on his shoulders and thighs in the second stage of the initiation, where wrong answers to questions merited a wallop.

According to Marcelo, Marcos fell during the third stage, landing face down on the ground. He then went on to endure a fourth round where he received more blows from several directions.

Marcelo said that he acted as one of the “angels” of the neophytes. He said he asked his companions to stop hitting Marcos but that his companions continued.

Marcos collapsed when the initiation was almost over.

Aside from Marcelo, two other neophytes also surfaced in August 2012 and voluntarily gave information, but couldn’t reveal more as they said they were blindfolded during the rites and were not aware of what was happening to Marcos.

The police noted the two neophytes also had bruises from the navel down.

The San Beda School of Law administration and the student government earlier condemned the hazing incident, saying fraternities and sororities are not recognized by the school administration.