Deceased cadet’s messages say hazing ‘normal’ at maritime academy
MANILA, Philippines — Hazing and other forms of violence against cadets is “normal” at the Philippine Merchant Marine Academy, said one of its cadets in messages sent to friends and family before he died and presented by his family before the House panel on higher and technical education on Tuesday.
“Normal lang ang hazing dito kuya. ‘Wag mo na sabihin kay mama ha. (Hazing is normal here, brother. Don’t tell mom,)” said Jonash Bondoc, a 4th Class Cadet who was found dead inside a bathroom in the PMMA campus after supposedly being punched twice in the chest by a senior cadet, in a message to his older brother Joshua last November 24, 2020.
Jonash sought to allay Joshua’s concern over his confession that hazing is normal in PMMA by saying that senior cadets know how to control themselves and are only testing whether junior cadets are strong.
While supposedly normal, Jonash said hazing is not tolerated by PMMA and will boot out any cadet caught involved in it.
“Ginagawa lang ‘to ng mga senior para palakasin [ang kadete.] Lalo na ‘pag may atraso at pa-lousy lousy ka. ‘Pag papansinin ka dito, kawawa ka talaga,” Jonash told Joshua.
(Seniors only do it to strengthen cadets, especially if they have done wrong or are lousy. You’ll be sorry if you’ll get their attention.)
‘So stressed, tired’
In messages to unidentified friends, which were sent to his family and shown to the House panel, Jonash complained of being “so f****** stressed and tired mentally and physically” as he told them that cadets barely had any sleep and were beaten up.
“Thirteen minutes lang tulog namin. P****, nakakapagod. Gising na naman alas-3, tapos bubugbugin na naman tapos tulog ulit tapos gising ulit na naman para gulpihin ulit,” Joshua told one of his friends in a message that was forwarded to Jelou after his death.
(We only slept for 13 minutes. F***, it’s so tiring. We wake up at 3 o’clock, then we’ll get beat up, then sleep again, then wake up again to get beat up yet again.)
He told another friend that they were not allowed to eat snacks, and if they do, they will get booted from PMMA and beat up.
He also told a different friend that drinking sessions are common inside the PMMA — even though alcohol is not allowed inside its premises — and that the people there are “sadists” when they become drunk.
In messages to his other older brother Jelou, Jonash said abusive senior cadets “will never go away” but also allayed fears for his safety.
“‘Di naman mawawala ‘yan. Pero ‘di ‘yan uubra sa akin,” Jonash said. “Nawawala lang din ang sakit, normal lang ‘yan dito.”
(They will never go away. But they have no effect on me … The pain subsides, that’s normal here.)
Glaiza Bondoc, Jonash’ eldest sister, said they would have pulled him out of the academy had they known the extent of the alleged abuse experienced by her brother.
‘Don’t let them manipulate probe’
An investigation by the PMMA’s board of trustees led by Commission on Higher Education Commissioner Ronald Adamat concluded that Jonash’ death was just an isolated case.
“We found out they adhere to the anti-hazing law and the immediate conclusion was this is just an isolated case,” Adamat said.
Some members of the Bondoc family received messages from anonymous people who claimed to be PMMA cadets who warned them that they should not let the academy do its own investigation.
“‘Wag niyo po hayaang i-manipulate nila ang imbestigasyon. Walang mapagkakatiwalaan po diyan simula sa puno,” an anonymous person told Glaiza in a message which was also presented before the House panel.
(Please don’t let them manipulate the investigation. No one can be trusted, even the leaders.)
Anonymous people told Glaiza and her mother, Grace, that cadets were supposedly told to have the same statements regarding what happened to Jonash. They also alleged that the senior cadet who punched Jonash and is now facing homicide charges was not the only one who hurt him.
Two video clips said to be of PMMA cadets were sent to Jelou by an anonymous person and were shown during the hearing. In one video, the hands of supposed cadets were being whacked by a long plank of wood by a shirtless man, while another video showed alleged cadets being punched in the chest by another cadet.
Asked for his response, PMMA Superintendent Joel Abutal said they are not in a position to comment as these incidents were supposedly not reported to them.
“We cannot comment because these never reached us. If it’s reported, surely, we would have taken appropriate action including termination of cadets and appropriate intervention in our policies and processes,” Abutal said partly in Filipino.
The Bondoc family still holds that Jonash died by hazing, and not due to homicide, as the police have ruled back in July as the medico-legal report on him showed he had multiple bruises on his body and died from a blunt traumatic injury to the head.
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