EDITORIAL - No lessons learned

It was bound to happen again. Despite positive identification of the suspects and accounts of survivors and eyewitnesses, it looks like no one will be punished for the fatal hazing of Guillo Cesar Servando last June allegedly at the hands of Tau Gamma Phi members of De la Salle-College of St. Benilde.

Three other neophytes who survived the hazing identified about 10 fraternity members including their leader who allegedly participated in the violent initiation rites. But the only suspects accounted for are those who have turned themselves in to stand as state witnesses; several others have reportedly left for abroad.

So it’s no surprise that a branch of Tau Gamma Phi in Laguna is again under investigation for the death of another young man applying for membership. Ariel Inopre, a former student of the Southern Luzon State University, died last Sunday from an infection due to kidney failure resulting from the hazing he said he underwent on Oct. 19 in Tagkawayan town in Quezon.

As in the killings of journalists and left-leaning activists, failure to bring hazing perpetrators to justice breeds impunity. Although there are laws specifically banning hazing and prescribing penalties for those responsible whether by direct participation or acts of omission, the scourge continues to claim the lives of youths including minors in the nation’s educational institutions. Hazing in the academies that produce the officer corps of the military and police surely contributes to the penchant for torture employed by government security forces in carrying out their tasks.

Adult fraternity members, particularly those holding key government positions, are supposed to lead in stopping the tradition of violence in their organizations, which are supposed to foster brotherhood. Instead, in a perverted sense of camaraderie, the adults often lead in protecting hazing perpetrators from prosecution. As in other crimes from kidnapping to corruption and murder, this kind of attitude guarantees a repeat of violent hazing. Inopre is not going to be the last victim of Tau Gamma Phi.