Frat leader charged for recruit's death

MANILA, Philippines – A leader of a fraternity’s Tondo, Manila chapter was charged yesterday with violating the anti-hazing law (Republic Act 8049) for the death of a teenage recruit during an initiation rite last Sunday.

Hernan Palacio, 28, a self-confessed leader of the Tau Gamma Phi-Tondo chapter, was identified by Nilo Abarratique, 19, as one of at least 10 TGP members who conducted the initiation rite at the group’s safehouse in Parola Compound.

Abarratique and Noel Borja Jr., 17, took part in the rite as newly recruited members. Borja’s body was found Wednesday stuffed inside a green plastic drum along the seawall of Pasig River in Tondo.

Borja, a student of the Alternative Learning System of the Department of Education and a resident of Parola Compound, was identified by his father and Abarratique.

Abarratique told homicide section chief Inspector Armando Macaraeg that the initiation rite was held last Sunday at around 8:25 p.m. He said TGP members hit him and Borja with a paddle on the backs of their legs at least 60 times during the rite.

When the beatings stopped, he noticed Borja gasping for breath. He said the TGP members tried to revive Borja and even hung him upside down so he would be able to breathe, but to no avail.

Abarratique said he later saw TGP members tying Borja’s hands and feet. He said he observed TGP members bringing in sand and cement into the safehouse, but was not aware of what transpired later on since he was told to sleep and rest on a wooden cot in a small room.

When he woke up the next day, the TGP members were already gone, including Borja, who had been missing since then.

Senior Police Officer 3 Paul Dennis Javier said Borja’s hands and feet were bound and his body partially covered with cement and stuffed in a plastic drum. Borja’s body bore abrasions and welt marks, Javier added.

Macaraeg and his follow-up team led by SPO4 Eduardo Martinez and PO3 Jess Coloma scoured the Parola Compound and found Palacio.

A manhunt has been launched for the nine TGP members involved in the initiation, Macaraeg said.