2 fratmen get life for murder

A Quezon City judge sentenced two members of a fraternity to life imprisonment for beheading a student of the Philippine Maritime Institute (PMI) during hazing seven years ago.

Judge Teodoro Bay of the Regional Trial Court Branch 86 found Lawrence Go, alias Rengie; and Joseph Bautista, alias Erap; guilty of murder for beheading Vincent Cirio in 1994.

Bay also ordered the two to pay the heirs of the victim P251,000 for actual, moral and exemplary damages.

Go and Bautista were the second batch convicted for beheading Cirio.

The first batch was convicted on Oct. 6, 1998 by Quezon City Judge Lucas Bersamin. They were identified as Rodolfo Magdaraog, Bernard Buan, Neil Arradaza and Marlon Karaingan.

Court records showed that the headless body of Cirio was discovered along Dario Creek in Barangay Sta. Cruz in Quezon City on Oct. 26 or two days after the beheading.

The judge anchored his judgment on the testimony of prosecution witness Christopher Bouquirin who claimed to have witnessed the initiation rites and beheading of Cirio by members of the Tau Gamma Phi Fraternity on Oct. 24, 1994.

Bouquirin, who was also a fraternity officer, told the court that Cirio underwent a fraternity initiation at the house of Magdaraog on Calamba street, Barangay Talayan, Quezon City hours before the killing.

At the height of the initiation, the witness said the blindfolded Cirio pleaded for his life but the accused, who were all drunk, ignored the victim’s plea and even hit him harder with a paddle.

When he could no longer stand what his fraternity brothers were doing to Cirio, the witness said he left the place. Unknown to Go’s group, Bouqirin said he hid behind a wall 10 meters away where he could still see his fraternity brothers attacking Cirio.

Bouqirin claimed he saw the victim fall to the ground and the initiators take turns in stabbing Cirio with ice picks and fan knives. He saw Magdaraog and Bautista behead Cirio while Go placed Cirio’s head in a plastic bag.

Go and Bautista belied Bouquirin’s accusation.

Despite inconsistencies, the court described Bouquirin’s statement as straightforward, candid and without hesitation.

The judge said "the defense alibi cannot prevail over the positive identification of the accused by the prosecution."

"The human mind does not work like a tape recorder. When the mind recollects a past event, it is almost always affected by the person’s physical and mental health," Bay noted.

However, Bay ruled that "the presence of one alternative mitigating circumstance of intoxication and only one generic aggravating circumstance justifies the imposition of the lower penalty of reclusion perpetua."

"Moreover, Republic Act 8049 also known as the Anti-Hazing Law provides the maximum penalty of reclusion perpetua. Therefore, even if the attending circumstances would call for the imposition of the death penalty, reclusion perpetua would still be the penalty," the judge said.