Frat leaders tagged in PCCR hazing death

MANILA, Philippines — Officers of the Tau Gamma Phi fraternity were among those identified as suspects in the killing of Philippine College of Criminology (PCCR) student Ahdlryn Lery Bravante in Quezon City, police said yesterday.

The Quezon City Police District (QCPD) earlier said there were 16 people who took part in hazing rites that killed Bravante.

However, the six suspects in police custody identified five more people who took part in Bravante’s initiation in an abandoned building in Barangay Sto. Domingo last Monday, QCPD director Brig. Gen. Redrico Maranan said on Saturday.

The six suspects in police custody are Justine Artates, Mark Leo Andales, Lexer Angelo Manarpies, Kyle Michael de Castro, John Xavier Arcosa and John Arvin Kaylle Diocena.

Citing the extrajudicial confessions of two of the suspects in custody, National Capital Region Police Office director Brig. Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. identified the other participants in the hazing as Alfred Asinero, Alfredo Bautista, James Edcel Robiso, John Gabriel Cayabyab, Adrian Castro, John Lloyd Bautista, Art Rico, Keith Alcazar and a certain Kenneth.

Maranan did not go into specifics but he said some of the new suspects are ranking officers of the fraternity.

“The rest are regular members,” the police official said in a message on Viber.

In a separate interview over Radyo Pilipinas, Maranan said the other suspects were only identified through their aliases and first names.

Police investigators are also working to recover Bravante’s cell phone.

Maranan said the victim’s cell phone is essential in the investigation as it would give probers leads on the people Bravante communicated with before he died.

Based on the extrajudicial confessions of two suspects in police custody, Maranan said Bravante voluntarily joined the fraternity.

However, he clarified the information is just the suspects’ version and said investigators would verify with Bravante’s family.

Bravante’s partner, Dalen Blaya, challenged the Tau Gamma Phi to present the other suspects who are still at large.

Blaya lamented that their six-year-old daughter could still not believe that her father is dead.

She added that their daughter wants to know who are the people responsible for her father’s death and if they will get justice.

Meanwhile, the Department of Social Welfare and Development has extended P10,000 in cash aid to Bravante’s family and a “guarantee letter” of P40,000 to cover his burial expenses, DSWD spokesman Romel Lopez said.

The DSWD’s Calabarzon office also offered education assistance to Bravante’s two siblings and his daughter. — Sheila Crisostomo