2nd week of February declared ‘National Hazing Prevention Week’

FILE: President Rodrigo Roa Duterte at the Quirino Grandstand in Manila on December 20, 2019. REY BANIQUET/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO

MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte has declared the second week of February of every year as “National Hazing Prevention Week,” to put an end to hazing and other fraternity-related violence in the country.

Duterte on February 21 signed Proclamation 907, which tasks the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) to lead the nationwide observance of the National Hazing Prevention Week.

“Throughout the years, there has been an alarming number of hazing-related deaths in the Philippines despite the passage of the Anti-Hazing Act,” read the proclamation released on Friday.

“To address the continuous occurrence, as well as the dire consequences of this act of violence, there is a need for the active participation of various government agencies, as well as the private sector and non-governmental organizations, to increase awareness of the importance and value of hazing prevention,” it added.

All other national government agencies and instrumentalities, including government-owned or -controlled corporations and state universities and colleges, are directed to provide assistance to CHED for the successful conduct of programs, projects and activities relative to the observance of the National Hazing Prevention Week.

All local government units, as well as the private sector, relevant civil society organizations and professional groups, are also encouraged to actively participate in the celebration and provide support to CHED, it said.

The necessary funding for the implementation of the proclamation would be sourced from the respectively available appropriations of the concerned agencies.

“For the succeeding years, the necessary funding shall be programmed in the respective budget proposals of the said agencies, subject to existing laws, rules and regulations,” Proclamation 907 said.

Hazing is deemed as an unlawful act, according to Republic Act (RA) 11052 or the Anti-Hazing Act of 2018.

RA 11052, signed by Duterte in 2018, forbids all forms of hazing in fraternities, sororities, and organizations, including citizens’ military training and citizens’ army training.

Duterte, in his proclamation, cited that under Section 11, Article 2 of the 1987 Constitution, it is a policy of the state to “” value the dignity of every human person and to guarantee full respect for human rights.”

He also cited Section 13, Article 2 of the Constitution, which provides that the State “recognizes the vital role of the youth in nation-building, and shall promote and protect the youth’s physical, moral, spiritual, intellectual and social well-being.”