Another student dies from suspected Tau Gamma hazing rites
MANILA, Philippines — A graduating student of the Philippine College of Criminology died on Monday evening from hazing-related injuries he allegedly sustained during the initiation rites of the Tau Gamma Phi fraternity.
According to a spot report by police, the victim has been identified as Ahldryn Lery Chua Bravante, a 25-year-old fourth-year student from Imus, Cavite.
According to the police’s initial investigation, two members of the Tau Gamma Phi's chapter at the Philippine College of Criminology have admitted that they conducted a hazing initiation on the neophyte on Monday.
Bravante allegedly sustained fatal wounds from the fraternity’s initiation rites, which were done in an abandoned building on Sto. Domingo Avenue in Quezon City on Monday afternoon. Several parts of his body show bruises, burns and bite marks, according to a News5 report.
Based on the police report, Bravante reportedly experienced difficulty in breathing and lost consciousness after the hazing activity, prompting two of the fraternity’s members to take him to the hospital where he was declared dead on arrival, according to a News5 report.
Bravante’s father told News5 that he last spoke to his son Sunday evening. His son did not tell him of his participation in the fraternity’s initiation rites, he said.
Two Tau Gamma Phi members allegedly involved in the student’s killing have been arrested, while two others voluntarily surrendered to the Philippine National Police. All four fraternity members are currently in the custody of the Quezon City police.
Police are currently searching for 10 other individuals related to the Bravante’s death from hazing.
According to a Radyo Pilipinas report, Quezon City police spokesperson Col. May Genio said that the paddle used to injure Bravante was found in a river. Police only recovered bottles of water in the abandoned building where the initiation rites allegedly took place.
Adamson student death
Bravante's death follows the death of Adamson student John Matthew Salilig in February — another Tau Gamma Phi fraternity neophyte who was paddled to death by those participating in his initiation rites.
After members of Tau Gamma Phi inflicted severe injuries on Salilig — who police say was hit 70 times during the organization's hazing rituals — the student was found dead in a vacant lot in Cavite in February.
A Senate probe into the effectivity of Republic Act 11053 or the Anti-Hazing Law of 2018 in March led senators to recommend that all fraternities or sororities found engaged in hazing should be collectively punished and held liable to the families of victims.
The Anti-Hazing Act was just revised in 2018 to outright ban hazing after the death of University of Santo Tomas law freshman Horacio Castillo III from the hazing rites of fraternity Aegis Juris.
But despite the amended Anti-Hazing Act, the police still recorded “14 or 18” alleged violations of the law since 2018, many of which were dismissed, according to Philippine National Police records.
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