Another Student Allegedly Succumbs To Hazing Injuries

News reports indicate that a senior student from the Philippine College of Criminology lost his life on Monday evening due to hazing-related injuries allegedly inflicted during the initiation rites of the Tau Gamma Phi fraternity.

A preliminary police report identifies the victim as Ahldryn Lery Chua Bravante, a 25-year-old fourth-year student from Imus, Cavite.

The police’s initial findings indicate that two members of the Tau Gamma Phi fraternity’s chapter at the Philippine College of Criminology have confessed to conducting a hazing operation on the neophyte on Monday.

Bravante sustained fatal injuries during the initiation rites, which were held in an abandoned building on Sto. Domingo Avenue in Quezon City last Monday afternoon. A News5 report states that his body bore numerous bruises, burns, and bite marks.

According to the police report, Bravante experienced severe difficulty in breathing and lost consciousness after the hazing activities. Two fraternity members rushed him to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead upon arrival, as reported by News5.

In an interview with News5, Bravante’s father, Alex, mentioned that he had last spoken to his son the evening before the incident. His son did not inform him about his participation in the fraternity’s initiation rites.

Alex also revealed that his son, who leaves behind a six-year-old child, worked as a part-time family driver and made deliveries for Lalamove to make ends meet.

Ahldryn’s mother, who works as an overseas Filipino worker in Oman, had just returned to the Philippines in September following the death of the victim’s older brother in a motorcycle accident.

Two Tau Gamma Phi members allegedly involved in the student’s death were apprehended, while two others voluntarily surrendered to the Philippine National Police. Currently, all four fraternity members are under the custody of the Quezon City Police.

Law enforcement agencies are actively pursuing 10 other individuals connected to the incident.

Radyo Pilipinas reports that Quezon City police spokesperson Col. May Genio has revealed that the paddle used to injure Bravante was discovered in a river. The abandoned building where the initiation rites were said to have taken place yielded only bottles of water, according to police reports.

This hazing-related incident follows the death of Adamson University student John Matthew Salilig in February. He, too, was a Tau Gamma Phi fraternity neophyte who died during initiation rituals involving paddling.

A Senate investigation into the effectiveness of Republic Act 11053, also known as the Anti-Hazing Law of 2018, in March led to recommendations from senators that all fraternities or sororities involved in hazing should be collectively held accountable and punished for the harm caused to the victims' families.

The Anti-Hazing Act underwent revisions in 2018 to explicitly prohibit hazing following the death of University of Santo Tomas law freshman Horacio Castillo III, who died as a result of hazing by the Aegis Juris fraternity.

Despite the amendments made to the Anti-Hazing Act, Philippine National Police records indicate that there have been "14 to 18" reported violations of the law since 2018, with many of them being dismissed.