{"id":119237,"date":"2017-09-24T09:34:29","date_gmt":"2017-09-24T13:34:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=119237"},"modified":"2017-09-24T09:34:29","modified_gmt":"2017-09-24T13:34:29","slug":"aguirre-wants-fraternities-recognized-monitored-by-school-officials","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2017\/09\/24\/aguirre-wants-fraternities-recognized-monitored-by-school-officials\/","title":{"rendered":"Aguirre wants fraternities ‘recognized, monitored’ by school officials"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Sec.<\/a>
FILE: Sec. Vitaliano Aguirre II (PNA PHOTO)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MANILA\u00a0<\/strong>\u2014 Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II has urged fraternities to register with their respective schools as official student organizations so that their activities can be monitored by school authorities.<\/p>\n

His recommendation came in light of the recent fatal hazing of 22-year-old University of Sto. Tomas (UST) law student Horacio \u201cAtio\u201d Castillo III.<\/p>\n

Aguirre said fraternity groups should register with their schools and inform the latter of the details of their rites — when and where the initiations are to be held and who the participants are to avoid or minimize untoward consequences.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe school admin could send representatives because they would be requiring the frat to inform them when, where the initiation rites to be conducted. Sinu-sinong members to be present and the school authorities could send representative sa initiation rites,\u201d Aguirre told reporters in a chance interview Friday.<\/p>\n

Aguirre, who also belongs to a fraternity, the Lex Talionis, admitted that it is difficult for frat members to cooperate in an investigation since they have a close bond with their fraternity brothers.<\/p>\n

He said this is why they prohibited the use of violence in their initiation rites in Lex Talionis though they still resort to inflicting “minimal physical contact” and \u201cmental\u201d tests during neophytes’ initiation.<\/p>\n

Aguirre said they have had initial contact with two possible male witnesses, both UST students.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the witnesses called my office and said to be a member of the Aegis Juris fraternity. This person knows the initiation rites that were done on Castillo… While the second witness, who was being recruited, went to my office,\u201d Aguirre added.
\nThe witness who called up the department said \u201cthey made them suffer\u201d during the initiation rites.<\/p>\n

He added Castillo was not included in the first batch of neophytes who went through the initiation and they \u201cpicked on him (Castillo)\u201d.<\/p>\n

Based on the information they have gathered, Aguirre said eight neophytes went through the initiation rites but he does not know if any of them is in the Immigration Lookout Bulletin Order (ILBO) issued last Wednesday.<\/p>\n

“They are somewhat being kept against their will by their seniors so they would not disclose what they know. They are invoking the Code of Silence,” he said.<\/p>\n

He said the two potential witnesses in the death of Castillo have not given their affidavits and that “fear” is preventing from further cooperating with authorities.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is the problem (they have not given their affidavits yet) and I am not sure if they would return to the DOJ because they are afraid and that there were threats against their lives\u2026 Right now, we are still at the very initial stages\u201d of the investigation,” the justice chief said.<\/p>\n

He also hinted that there could be a third possible witness. A member of the Aegis Juris fraternity has reportedly sent a \u201cfeeler\u201d to the National Bureau of Investigation, expressing interest to cooperate.
\nHe is hoping that these witnesses would cooperate with the DOJ soon so they would be prioritized under the Witness Protection Program (WPP).<\/p>\n

\u201cTo those who know anything about what happened to Horacio Castillo III, if you were there when it happened, then you have blood in your hands,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Aguirre urged them that it is \u201ctime to wash it with truth and justice for Atio.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aguirre added it will not do any good if they continue to hide and keep quiet about what had happened.<\/p>\n

\u201cRunning from the truth is like being locked up in a jail with no bars. By your silence, you have already imprisoned yourself,\u201d Aguirre said.<\/p>\n

Aguirre offered to place witnesses under the WPP.
\n\u201cIf they want to tell the truth or clear their names they can come to my office and we will place them under the WPP. They can trust us, they have nothing to fear from us,\u201d he assured.<\/p>\n

The Secretary has created hotline number \u200e\u200e0995 442 9241. for any information on Castillo’s death.\u00a0(PNA)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANILA\u00a0\u2014 Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II has urged fraternities to register with their respective schools as official student organizations so …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":112613,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,95],"tags":[11672,24662],"class_list":["post-119237","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","category-news-ph","tag-aguirre","tag-fraternities","mauthors-christopher-lloyd-caliwan","mauthors-philippine-news-agency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119237","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=119237"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119237\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/112613"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=119237"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=119237"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=119237"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}