Finally, closure for family of UST law student

MANILA, Philippines — It was a long and painful wait for the parents and loved ones of Horacio “Atio” Castillo III, but in the end they found closure, even as some questions remain unanswered.

Atio’s mother Carmina and father and namesake Horacio were relieved to hear the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 11 sentence to life imprisonment the 10 members of Aegis Juris fraternity for the hazing death of their son in 2017, but felt more should have been held accountable, including the University of Santo Tomas and some lawyers who may have tried to cover up the crime.

“We got a conviction, beyond reasonable doubt, for all 10. It was a reclusion perpetua. We are happy,” Carmina said in an interview with “Storycon” on One News. “The anti-hazing law has already been amended. But we have to see its implementation and awareness of the law. There is a need to strengthen the responsibility of the officials of the fraternities and schools.”

“They are the ones, supposedly, taking care of our children. We pay the tuition. They should take accountability,” Carmina added.

The Castillo couple urged the Supreme Court (SC) to act on a pending case of disbarment filed by the Senate against members of the Aegis Juris suspected of having attempted to cover up the circumstances behind Atio’s death.

“I believed that after this conviction, the SC should review the disbarment case because the cover-up are between lawyers. They did not fulfill their duties and oath as lawyers. They should be held responsible for the cover-up,” Carmina said.

For his part, Atio’s father called the court verdict “breath-taking.”

“When we are in the court, we are prepared. Sixteen minutes, everybody was quiet, waiting for the hearing to start. The judge came out, she had an envelope. She opened it containing an 18-page report. It will reach 5 p.m. if the judge will read it all. So everybody agreed to just read the dispositive portion. We got to that part and she said guilty,” Horacio said.

“I almost shouted because of excitement with what I heard. This is really something. We have been in this place for seven years. Finally, there is closure. My partner is the one really very serious. She took care of everything,” he said.

He admitted that the last two weeks was really hell for them.

“We knew about Oct. 1. Before the Oct. 1, there were many motions filed. Maybe, to extend the Oct. 1. That is today. For one thing, I was very, very happy with the decision,” he said.

He said the pending disbarment case may be affected by the decision of the lower court. “It is changing the whole scenario. There is strong evidence,” Horacio said.

“Now that the verdict is out, it’s his fraternity and dean of the faculty of civil law. It is a big development. It has been proven that it was not only Atio who was subjected to hazing in Aegis Juris. Some also experienced hazing. As dean of faculty of civil law, they should be aware that something like this, hazing is happening. Senator (Panfilo) Lacson’s report said they have the control, they should have seen this because our son died in hazing,” he said.

He also said court proceedings on hazing cases should be limited to at least three to four years.