Sorority war eyed in campus stabbing

MANILA, Philippines - Police are investigating if a sorority war is behind the stabbing by a group of female students of Far Eastern University of a 20-year-old University of Santo Tomas (UST) student inside the FEU campus in Manila Tuesday night.

Manila Police District director Chief Superintendent Alex Gutierrez identified one of the suspects as Christina Acosta, a fourth year nursing student.

Senior Inspector Antonio Naag, head of the University Belt Area Police Community Precinct, said they have invited the suspect for questioning.

The victim, Joanne Lourdes Concepcion Reyes, 20, an Information Technology student of UST, is still confined at the Chinese General Hospital.

The attack on Reyes was caught on closed-circuit television (CCTV). But the faces of those shown in the video were blurred; authorities were having a hard time identifying them.

Albert Cabasada III, FEU admission and external relations office director, said the students involved in the stabbing face expulsion.

“We have our own student code and they will be expelled for committing a major offense,” Cabasada said.

The Commission on Higher Education had reportedly asked FEU to explain on the incident.

In an official statement, FEU said it is taking the matter “very seriously” and all information relevant to the case had been gathered and turned over to the authorities last Tuesday.

“FEU is giving its full cooperation in the investigation making all its resources, including on-campus CCTV footages and access to witnesses available to the investigating team of the Philippine National Police,” the statement said. – With Evelyn Macairan