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DOJ formally charges 10 Aegis Juris members
FILE: Freshmen law student Horacio Castillo III (Photo: Horacio Castillo/Facebook)
The Department of Justice (DOJ) indicted 10 members of the Aegis Juris fraternity over the hazing rounds that killed University of Santo Tomas (UST) freshman law student Horacio “Atio” Castillo III.
A resolution by the DOJ signed on March 6 indicted the following members:
- Arvin Balag
- Ralph Trangia
- Oliver John Audrey Onofre
- Mhin Wei Chan
- Danielle Hans Matthew Rodrigo
- Joshua Joriel Macabali
- Axel Munro Hipe
- Marcelino Bagtang
- Jose Miguel Salamat
- Robin Ramos
No bail was recommended for the law students, and the highest penalty for their violation of the anti-hazing law is life imprisonment.
However, John Paul Solano, the frat member who brought Castillo’s body to the Chinese General Hospital after the hazing can file a bail after DOJ charged him with perjury and obstruction of justice.
In previous statements, he told the police that he found Castillo on the sidewalks of Tondo. But he later admitted that the other fraternity members asked for his help. These Aegis Juris members called Solano when Castillo fainted during the fraternity’s initiation rites.
While the witness Marc Anthony Ventura bore that Hipe, Trangia, and Balag carried out the paddle round of the initiation that was proven to be fatal. Meanwhile, other members of the mentioned 10 participated in the spatula round of the initiation.
“The presence and participation of the said respondents in the initiation rites were established by the statements of both Solano and Ventura. As regards respondents Balag and Trangia, their presence and participation are further corroborated by the fact that their respective vehicles were used to transport Atio’s body to Chinese General Hospital,” the resolution read.
Furthermore, UST Law Dean Nilo Divina was spared from all the charges filed against him and his faculty secretary Arthur Capili “for insufficiency of evidence.”
