THE Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 11 of the City of Manila on October 1 convicted 10 members of the Aegis Juris fraternity for the death of one of their neophytes, Horacio "Atio" Castillo, which occurred on Sept. 17, 2017. RTC-11 presiding judge Shirley Magsipoc-Pagalilauan imposed reclusion perpetua (equivalent to 40 years in jail) on all accused of the fatal hazing of Castillo, who at that time was a freshman civil law student at the University of Santo Tomas (UST).
The Political Science Forum (PSF) of UST, of which Castillo used to be a part, quickly and mindlessly condemned fraternities in general. It issued "A Statement on the Verdict of Horacio Castillo III's Case," which read in part, "Ang mga fraternities ay nagpapakita ng mga bulok at lumang sistema na pumapabor sa bulok na kultura ng ating bayan na nararapat na ating tanggalin at hindi na tinatangkilik pa." (AI translation: Fraternities exhibit rotten and outdated systems that favor the corrupt culture of our country, which we should eliminate and no longer support).
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