Causes + Bosses

A history of violence

This story originally appeared in the Philippine Daily Inquirer on January 17, 2006. 

It was past six in the evening and my class in Criminal Procedure had just ended. My group mates and I had decided to do some late-night field work, when a male classmate walked up to us and asked if he could go. “Merong gulo (There’s trouble),” he said simply. 

Looking over his shoulder, I noticed that there were indeed several male students quietly conferring in groups. Frat men, I concluded. And then I understood that my classmate wanted to avoid getting embroiled in an impending clash between his fraternity and another Greek-letter fraternity. 

I am not and never have been a member of any organization which requires recruits to go through initiation rites or which has the habit of going to war with other similarly oriented organizations. I almost do not care if members of fraternities beat up one another out of a misguided sense of brotherhood. I do not want to get into trouble. But the problem is, even non-fraternity members can sometimes be caught up in the crossfire of frat wars. Students like us have often ended up victims of the culture of violence that seems to animate some fraternities. 

Who was it who said that “writing saved me from the sin and inconvenience of violence”? I prefer to write rather than make a lonely protest rally around the school campus and secretly put up posters denouncing fraternity violence. I am afraid that I would be facing the fraternities by my lonesome if they got wind of my protest against their violent acts. I must say that I am only against frat men who advocate and practice violence in the name of brotherhood. I am not saying all frat members have his violent streak. My male classmate, for one, tries very hard to avoid trouble and even goes out of his way to make friends with members of other fraternities. But I believe that victims of fraternity-related violence also deserve to be heard. 

I can still remember how a few years back, a poor scholar met a violent death at the hands of hired killers after he was mistaken for a member of a rival fraternity. He was just sitting on a bench, near the hangout of one fraternity, without any thought of being hit by some hired goons or frat men since he was not affiliated with any fraternity. He thought wrongly and paid dearly for it. 

More recently, a grandson of a highly placed politician died after going through initiation rites mandated by one fraternity. And this year has seen a rise in fraternity-related assaults right on the UP campus and the victims included not only frat men but even some students who had no fraternities. What a waste of some of our nation’s youth. 

Some officers of fraternities that were involved in violent incidents have been in compliance with the Anti-Hazing Law. But while our legislators seem to have finally recognized the threats being posed by certain frat rituals, I believe the law is still inadequate. The first time I read RA 8049, I already knew it would not be effective in stopping fraternity-related violence or “physically taxing” initiation rites. In fact, the law does not prohibit physical initiation at all. It should not have been labeled as an Anti-Hazing Law since all it does is regulate the process of initiation by requiring fraternities to seek permission from school authorities prior to conducting such rites. 

RA 8049 prescribes harsh penalties for participants in initiation rites when a neophyte suffers physical injuries or becomes insane, imbecile, impotent, or blind. The law imposes the penalty of reclusion perpetua when the hazing is marred by the death, rape, sodomy or mutilation of a neophyte. Of course, this is much better than having no law at all. But again it must be pointed out that this does not actually prevent fraternities and other organizations from making their recruits go through excruciatingly painful and emotionally draining initiation rites. The victim can only have recourse to the law after violent acts have been committed to him. 

Indeed fortunate are those who get out of these initiation rites alive and become the “brods” of their tormentors. But how about those who do not survive or those who are maimed for life? What will years of imprisonment imposed on the perpetrators do to a dead or disabled recruit? Prison will not restore a recruit’s life or limb. 

I believe that one of the best solutions to end fraternity-related violence is for the fraternity alumni themselves to openly denounce the violent actions of their brods. Many of these alumni now occupy positions of authority and influence and their sentiments will be heard and respected by their juniors. It is time to undertake reforms within the fraternities themselves. I have often wondered how these impressive-sounding, Greek-letter organizations became immersed in the culture of violence. It is time for the members of fraternities themselves to ask the same question and return to the practice of brotherhood in the truest sense of the word. The history of violence that has been associated with fraternities should be rewritten starting today.

Dep

Dep, 23, is a sophomore at the University of the Philippines College of Law.

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