Hazing slay victim’s mother: ‘Moving on’ just a phrase

MANILA, Philippines — Over a year after freshman law student Horatio “Atio” Castillo III died allegedly at the hands of members of the Aegis Juris fraternity, his mother still feels the pain of loss.

“I think moving on is just a phrase that you tell someone kasi hindi (niya) alam ang nararamdaman ng tao eh, hindi na-understand ang pakiramdam ng namatayan (because they do not understand what it feels to have lost someone),” Atio’s mother Carminia told reporters in a phone interview yesterday, her voice cracking.

Her family is still “living with… the grief, the loss, the pain” of her son’s death on Sept. 17, 2017 after undergoing initiation rites at the fraternity’s library not far from the University of Santo Tomas campus.

The Castillo family found Atio’s body, some parts covered with large bruises, at a funeral parlor in Tondo, Manila hours after the rites.

Carminia said the pain and “the coverup by some lawyers drives us to fight head-on.”

The Castillo family visited Atio’s tomb at the Manila Memorial Park last Wednesday, she said. 

The 10 fraternity members allegedly involved in Atio’s death denied in July the charge of violating Republic Act 8049 or the anti-hazing law.

They are being held at the Manila City Jail.