Student-led Anti-Fraternity Related Violence Watch (SAWA) Head Jackie Canlas (L) assists UP CSSP Student Council Chair Yanna Perez (R) in the filing of a case against Alpha Phi Beta and Beta Sigma in the UP Student Disciplinary Tribunal after a rumble between the two fraternities last week.
QUEZON CITY, Philippines – After a violent altercation last week between fraternities that left several students injured, a college dean and student council from the University of the Philippines Diliman are demanding an end to fraternity-related violence through administrative sanctions.
UP College of Social Sciences and Philosophy Dean Michael Tan and Student Council Chair Yanna Perez filed on Wednesday a complaint against fraternities Alpha Phi Beta and Beta Sigma over a rumble between the two fraternities last September 18.
The complaint accused Raymund Cruz Lopez, Marcus Cabrera, Don Ballustre, Mark Gabriel De Jesus, Bryan Joseph Costales, Miguel Barreto, and several other members of the fraternities “of engaging in a fraternity rumble, as defined in Section 1(A)(1), Rule I, Revised Rules Governing Fraternities, Sororities, and other Student Organizations.”
Last year, the college filed a similar complaint against Alpha Phi Beta and Alpha Sigma, but the Diliman Legal Office which serves as the prosecutor in cases of fraternity violence has yet to forward the case to the Student Disciplinary Tribunal. “It is a frustrating fact that well-connected fraternities in UP are never punished for rumbles and hazing,” Perez said.
According to Perez, the unwritten policy of UP’s administration is to back off once fraternities figuring in a rumble have reached a “truce.” Because of this “truce policy,” fraternities have never been punished administratively in UP, Perez said. Rumbles, under UP’s rules, are punishable by suspension to expulsion.
The Student-led Anti-Fraternity Related Violence Watch (SAWA), composed of students from the UP College of Law, provided legal assistance in the filing of the complaint. The organization’s head, Jackie Canlas, explained that after the filing of the complaint, a preliminary inquiry should be conducted by the Diliman Legal Office.
“The solution to ending the culture of violence among fraternities in UP is to set an example. The university must dispense justice by punishing violent fraternities with suspension or expulsion,” Canlas said.
Fraternities in UP were formed during the university’s early decades in the 1900s. Since then, several students have been victims to hazing and rumbles. Cris Mendez was the most recent case of a student dying from fraternity-related violence. The Mendez case remains unresolved.
“Impunity in the country starts with the youth. When fraternity members think they are somehow above the law because of their connections, one can only imagine what they will be capable of once they graduate and become the country’s next leaders,” Canlas added.
