Bar exam frat brawl: 4 hurt, 7 nabbed
MANILA, Philippines – Four members of the Gamma Delta Epsilon fraternity were hurt and seven members of the Aegis Juris fraternity were arrested after they clashed in Manila early yesterday morning.
The brawl between the two fraternities happened as law graduates were taking the Bar exams at the University of Santo Tomas (UST) in Manila.
Police tightened security in the vicinity of the UST following the melee.
Wounded were Ramon Gicos, 25; Jeherson Ayong, 33, both of Arellano University Law School; Ron Resurrecion, 28,of the De La Salle University College of Law, and Carmelo Galte of the New Era University College of Law.
They were initially taken to the San Juan de Dios Hospital and transferred to the Manila Doctors Hospital for treatment, Chief Inspector Arsenio Riparip, Manila Police District (MPD) general assignment and investigation section head, said.
UST law students Von Paulo Anonuevo, Arvin Balag, Ralph Trangia, Marcelino Bagtang, Joshua Joriel Macabali, Mhin Wei Chan and Justin Carlos Garcia were held at the police station for questioning.
MPD director Senior Superintendent Joel Napoleon Coronel reprimanded the fraternity members involved in the brawl.
One of the lawyers of Aegis Juris fraternity told police that the rumble occurred after at least 15 members of the Gamma Delta Epsilon “attacked their brods” in front of the Manila Hotel where they were billeted at around 4 a.m.
Members of the Gamma Delta Epsilon were billeted at the Heritage Hotel in Pasay.
“We were all expelled students from UST although some were able to enroll in other schools. They attacked us without provocation,” said a member of the Aegis Juris.
Bad blood
MPD deputy director for operations Senior Superintendent Bartolome Bustamante, who was tasked to oversee security measures for the Bar exams, said three brawls occurred between the two fraternities in the UST campus on Wednesday.
“One of the fratmen was taken to the UST clinic after suffering injuries. The students clashed again at the parking lot and later in the night outside the campus,” Bustamante told The STAR.
Lawyer Gerald Villaroel, former Aegis Juris president, said there have been issues between the two warring fraternities in the past.
“But we could not tell what caused the bad blood this time,” Villaroel said.
Coronel said he met with Supreme Court Justice Presbitero Velasco after the incident and was instructed to investigate the law students involved in the brawl.
Coronel said the fratmen would face sanctions.
The MPD chief said they would strictly enforce the liquor ban to ensure peaceful Bar exams for the next two Sundays.
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