Fraternity hazing now deadlier
A senior member of the Tau Gamma fraternity yesterday deplored the recent death of a
neophyte due to hazing, saying initiation during their time was different and not deadly.
Orlando Barcala, a member of the groups St. Jude chapter in Valenzuela, said in the past no
one died during the initiation. Iba ngayon ang initiation, dahil may namamatay na sa hazing
(Fraternities are different now because hazing has led to deaths), he said.
He said young people are attracted to join a fraternity because of the spirit of brotherhood. Its
good to be a frat member before, he said.
Besides, there is a macho-effect when you are a member, Barcala added. (Ed Mahilum)
Editorial: Erasing brutality, sadism from frat initiation rites
Despite the stringent provisions of Republic Act 8049 An Act Regulating Hazing and Other
Forms of Initiation Rites in Fraternities, Sororities, and Other Organizations, and Providing
Penalties Therefor we continue to have reports of fatalities in hazing incidents in
organizations identified with the most reputable institutions of learning in our land.
The latest of these is the death of college sophomore Guillo Cesar Servando of the De la Salle-
College of St. Benilde in initiation rites of the Tau Gamma Phi fraternity. He was the latest in a
long list of victims in initiation rites of fraternities in such respected schools as the University of
the Philippines, San Beda, University of Santo Tomas, Technological University of the
Philippines, Lyceum of the Philippines, and the Philippine Military Academy.
Hazing supposedly seeks to build solidarity among members of an organization. It is supposed
to test the initiates determination, by making them undergo acts of humiliation, acts of
deprivation, and tests of physical endurance. Neophytes could be made to serenade telephone
poles in front of amused pedestrians, scrub floors and wash dishes in dormitories, or deliver
roses to frat members girlfriends. The Alpha Phi Omega fraternity has developed a truly
humiliating test the Oblation Run where neophytes, with all their shortcomings, their faces
and nothing else covered, run through a gauntlet of shrieking coeds in the corridors of UP
Diliman. It is in the physical tests where the danger lies, like jumping from a certain height or
getting hit repeatedly in ones bottom with a paddle which is really not much different from a
dos-por-dos. If one survives these trials, so it is said, one is worthy to be a member.
Unfortunately, not all masters are guided by this goal of building solidarity. There is a streak of
brutality and sadism in some of them. Thus we have cases that need hospitalization and only
the fatalities find their way into the news media. The government sought to curb these abuses
with RA 8049 enacted in 1995. It prescribed penalties for various levels of violation, the
harshest of which is life imprisonment if hazing results in death, rape, sodomy, or mutilation.
A great deal of responsibility rests on the fraternity officers and on the officials of the school. It is
within their authority and their power to ensure that initiation rites are guided by the true goal of
testing determination and developing solidarity, unmarred by brutality and sadism. It may be
difficult to overcome the cult of secrecy that is cultivated by many fraternities. But with
determined goodwill perhaps more than determined legal enforcement it can be done.
Thousands flee Gazas Shejaiya, casualties lying on streets: AFP
Gaza City, Palestinian Territories (AFP) Thousands of people fled Gazas eastern Shejaiya
district early Sunday, many of them on foot, after heavy shelling left casualties lying in the
streets, an AFP correspondent reported.
Ambulances were unable to reach much of the area along the border because of heavy fire, and
emergency services told AFP there were reports of dead and wounded trapped by the
bombardment.
International probe demanded after Malaysian airliner downed over Ukraine, 298 dead
Hrabove, Ukraine (Reuters) World leaders demanded an international investigation into the
shooting down of a Malaysian airliner over eastern Ukraine in which all 298 people on board
were killed, a tragedy that could further heighten tensions between Russia and the West.
One U.S. official said Washington strongly suspected a surface-to-air missile that downed the
Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 on a flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur on Thursday was
fired by Ukrainian separatists backed by Moscow.
Charges to be filed versus suspected illegal recruiters
The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) is preparing to file criminal
charges against four employees of a local agency for illegal recruitment of overseas Filipino
workers (OFWs), an official said yesterday.
POEA Administrator Hans Cacdac said charges will be filed against Rosalinda Natama, Lorelyn
Corona, Janette Togado, and Maribie Zafra, employees of Bright 3 Manpower Agency which
was shut down by POEA allegedly for operating illegally.
Cacdac said he ordered the closure of the Bright 3 office in Makati City after receiving reports it
was offering illegal job placements to Malaysia.
Rosalinda Natama, who identified herself as the operations manager of the agency, admitted
she was responsible for recruitment of workers for overseas employment, Cacdac said.
She confessed that Bright 3 was recruiting workers for local employment even without the
appropriate license from the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), he added.
Cacdac said the four Bright 3 employees will also be blacklisted by POEA to prevent them from
working for other recruitment agencies.
Their names will be included in the POEA List of Persons with Derogatory Record, Cacdac
said.
POEA said it will also endorse the case to DOLE-National Capital Region and the city of Makati
so they could look into the possibility of revoking the license to operate or business permit of the
erring agency. (Samuel Medenilla)
3 suspects nabbed by PDEA in buy-bust
Some 10 grams of methamphetamine hydrochloride, locally known as shabu, were recently
confiscated by anti-narcotics operatives of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA)
from a farmer during a buy-bust operation in San Pablo City, Laguna.
Undersecretary Arturo Cacdac, Jr., PDEA director general, identified the suspect as Arnel
Cuello, 34, a resident of Brgy. Atisan, San Pablo City, Laguna.
This coincided with the report on the arrest, also by PDEA agents, of two alleged members of
the Carlos Dy Drug Group in separate buy-bust operations in Cebu City and General Santos
City.
The suspects in the Wednesday operation were identified as Rodillo Minoza, 56, of Talambang,
Cebu, and Joel Subaan, of General Santos City.
Cacdac said operatives of PDEA Regional Office 4A (PDEA RO4A) under Director Adzhar
Albani conducted a buy-bust operation Tuesday in front of Puregold in San Pablo City, Laguna
which led to Cuellos arrest.
He was reported to have agreed to sell one piece of rectangular transparent plastic sachet of
shabu weighing 10 grams to a PDEA agent who acted as a poseur-buyer.
Confiscated from Cuello were one P500 bill used as buy-bust money and a cellphone.
The three suspects are separately under custody pending the filing of criminal charges. (Francis
T. Wakefield)
DOJ panel recommends filing of tax evasion case against Napoles source
A Department of Justice (DOJ) panel has wrapped up its preliminary investigation on the P61-
million tax evasion charges filed by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) against alleged pork
barrel scam brains Janet Lim-Napoles and her husband Jaime with a recommendation to file a
case against the respondents.
A source, who refused to be named, confirmed that the three-member DOJ panel chaired by
Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Edna Valenzula has submitted the tax evasion case of the
Napoles couple for resolution last June after both the BIR and the Napoles camp submitted
respective affidavit and replies.
The DOJ prosecutors have recommended filing a tax evasion case against the couple but it will
be up to Prosecutor General (PG) Claro Arellano to make the final decision on the case, the
source said.
Hinihintay na lang na pirmahan ni PG Arellano yung recommendation ng panel. Sa part ng
panel, tapos na sila sa preliminary investigation nung June pa, the source said.
On September 26, 2013, the BIR lodged a criminal complaint against the Napoles couple,
accusing them of willful attempt to evade or defeat tax for the years 2004, 2006, and from 2008
until 2012.
In addition, Janet Napoles was charged with deliberate failure to supply correct and accurate
information in her Income Tax Return (ITR) for taxable years 2004, 2006, 2008, and 2009 and
with willful failure to file her ITRs for taxable years 2010, 2011 and 2012, the BIR said.
Jaime Napoles was also charged for not supplying correct and accurate information in his ITR
for 2009 and for his failure to file his ITR for 2004, 2006, 2008, and from 2010 until 2012.
Information gathered during investigation disclosed that spouses Napoles during the years
2004 to 2012 were able to purchase and register in their names various real properties, a
number of motor vehicles, several insurance policies and club shares. They also invested
millions of pesos in various new corporations, the BIR said.
Acquisitions of the couple included condominium units in Cityland Mega Plaza and the
Discovery Center, and parcels of land in Pangasinan and Kidapawan City.
The Napoleses also have insurance policies with Insular Life Assurance Co., Ltd., Philippine
American Life & General Insurance Co., Inc., and Philippine Axa Life Insurance Corp., and have
purchased vehicles that include a Ford Lincoln Navigator, Honda Civic and Porsche Cayenne.
The bureau said data showed Janet Napoles total acquisitions amounted to P4.17 million in
2004, P22.29 million in 2006, P4.35 million in 2008, P9.84 million in 2009, P6.33 million in 2010,
P5.64 million in 2011 and P6.89 million in 2012.
But these were made with an income of only P195,800 in 2004, zero in 2006, P100,744 in 2008
and zero in 2009, as shown in her ITRs.
She did not file any ITR from 2010 to 2012.
Hoarding, rice-mixing being checked in Bohol
Tagbilaran City, Bohol Multi-agency teams have intensified their inspections of rice millers
and warehouses in Bohol for possible hoarding and mixing of cheap National Food Authority
(NFA) with commercial rice.
Inspections conducted by agents from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the
Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), backed up by representatives from the
Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the NFA, have so far yielded negative results.
