Caloocan teacher's slay a satanic initiation rite?

MANILA, Philippines – The killing of a Caloocan City high school teacher took a new turn yesterday, after STAR sources said the murder was allegedly an initiation rite of a “satanic” fraternity that reportedly operates in public schools in the Northern Manila area.

Sources told The STAR that the attack on Teodora Soner, a second year high school teacher of the Manuel L. Quezon High School, was allegedly carried out by neophyte members of the Temple Street Trece (TST) fraternity.

A police official said TST espouses violence and defying authority, and killing is part of the initiation rite for new recruits.

“Once they stab their victim to death in the back they become members of the frat,” he said. “Because minors are protected by law, they are prone to the recruitment of the fraternity and public schools are the most ideal place to operate.”

Soner allegedly warned the 15-year-old high school student who killed her that she would expose his fraternity links and have him expelled.

A source said the TST may have been told of her actions, and the fraternity’s officials may have ordered an attack on her.

Police investigators have already filed murder charges against the suspect, who is undergoing a “discernment process” at the Caloocan social services office.

According to another source, the boy’s alleged fraternity brothers served as lookouts during the attack. “After the (stabbing), the boy even attended classes before he was arrested,” he said.

A police source said another fraternity, the True Brown Style (TBS), also operates in public schools in the northern Manila area.

The TST and TSB are rival groups whose members engage in bloody gang wars in school campuses and city streets, the source said.