MANILA (3RD UPDATE) — Senators condemned Wednesday the alleged hazing death of chemical engineering student John Matthew Salilig, whose body was found Tuesday in a vacant lot in Cavite more than a week after he went missing.

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Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri who authored the strengthened Anti-Hazing Act, while “urgently” calling for the immediate arrest of suspects in Salilig’s senseless death, also reminded those who are involved in the killing that they would be facing life imprisonment.

“Our laws are clear on this: any individual who participated in hazing that leads to the victim’s death is punishable with reclusion perpetua. Life imprisonment. Hazing should not be tolerated by any society and we have the laws in place to make sure that it should never happen to hapless young men and women only longing for friendship and camaraderie. Those barbarian perpetrators should all rot in jail for the rest of their lives,” Zubiri said.

Despite what happened, Zubiri maintained that there is no need to revisit the Anti-Hazing Law since it has all the needed provisions to punish those who engage their recruits in brutal initiation rites.

“What we need to do is to show justice for the family. At para matakot yung mga individual na ito na talagang pag sila ay nanakit ng kapwa nilang kapatid sa fraternity ay talagang makukulong sila at mabibigyan ng hustisya ang mga pamilya ng biktima. I think it saddens me na maraming pasaway,” Zubiri said.

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Sen. Risa Hontiveros also condemned the killing of Salilig.

"No ifs and buts - hazing has no place in our society. The full extent of existing laws like the Anti-Hazing Act should be brought down on all who participated in John Matthew's killing, including those who had knowledge of the crime," she said.

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Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva described hazing as "pure evil" and called for a "proactive" implementation of the Anti-Hazing Act of 2018.

"Hazing and other forms of violence in fraternities and other organizations are pure evil. It needs to end now... In the midst of this new case of hazing, we need to be more pro-active and revisit the law to ensure that it is being implemented properly," he said.

Sen. Nancy Binay meanwhile called out the supposed failure of school administrations to prevent hazing incidents.

"Wala na ba talaga tayong takot o guilt na manakit ng kapwa? On- or off-campus, our schools are supposed to be safe spaces for our children. But sadly, schools, administrators and even law enforcement agencies fail to seriously check and monitor organizations na patuloy pa rin sa tradisyunal na initiation rites," Binay said.

Sen. Jinggoy Estrada also asked authorities to prosecute those involved in Salilig's death.

"I call on the law enforcers to round up all those involved and privy to the case and hold them accountable to the law... These acts of violence, the criminal acts that continue to be performed in the false name of brotherhood, will not be tolerated," Estrada said.

For Senator JV Ejercito who finished his college degree without joining any fraternity said, it’s time to blacklist organizations with violent records.

“Those fraternities that are involved in hazing, probably, yun ang mga dapat i-blacklist na. Talagang hindi na dapat payagan, huwag nang bigyan ng recognition in schools or in any other organizations. So, pagka nagkaroon ng record, I think those fraternities ang dapat ma-blacklist,” Ejercito said.

Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva who is a Tau Gamma member, strongly condemned what happened, as he called on his fraternity brothers to ensure that those who were behind Salilig’s death will be made accountable.
Villanueva also vowed to revisit the Anti-Hazing Act of 2018 in a bid to strengthen it some more.

“Sa gitna po ng panibagong kasong ito ng hazing, muli po nating bibisitahin ang batas na ito at pag-aaralan kung naipatutupad ito nang maayos at alamin na rin kung mayroon pa tayong magagawa para mas maging pro-active tayo sa implementasyon ng Anti-Hazing Law, Villanueva said.

P500,000 REWARD

At the House of Representatives, Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez offered a P500,000 reward for anyone who can provide information that will lead to the arrest of the suspects.

“Brothers do not kill brothers,” Romualdez stressed in a statement. “Frat-related or not, any crime that results to death deserves utmost condemnation."

Salilig was reported missing on Feb. 20 by his brother. One of the suspects told authorities that the victim allegedly received at least 70 hits in the initiation rites.

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