The problem with hazing

Published by the Visayan Daily Star Publications, Inc.

NINFA R. LEONARDIA Editor-in-Chief & President

CARLA P. GOMEZ Editor GUILLERMO TEJIDA III Desk Editor NANETTE L. GUADALQUIVER Busines Editor CEDELF P. TUPAS Sports Editor (On Leave) RENE GENOVE Bureau Chief, Dumaguete MAJA P. DELY Advertising Coordinator

CARLOS ANTONIO L. LEONARDIA Administrative Officer

In Negros Occidental, a police captain and two troopers of the 6th Regional Mobile Group are in hot water after a neophyte policeman lodged a complaint against them. In Palawan, local authorities are investigating the untimely death of a 19-year old mechanical engineering student.

These two unrelated incidents have one ugly thing in common: allegations of hazing, the barbaric and juvenile ritual that includes physical harm and/or mental anguish as a form of "bonding" between the senior members and the neophytes of an organization. Republic Act 8049, or the The Anti-Hazing Law of the Philippines, was passed in 1995, specifically because of the numerous unnecessary deaths that had been attributed to this bestial activity that has inexplicably managed to thrive even in civilized society that normally does not tolerate such blatant abuse of the human body and mind. Many young and promising lives had been snuffed out after an over-eager session of what were supposed to be friendly beatings (if ever there is such a term) gone wrong.

In spite of this law, not a year goes by that a hazing-related death is not reported in this country. That just strengthens the notion that more than a decade after the law has been passed, hazing still remains part of life, especially in school fraternities. The people who went through it and survived probably think it is unfair for the new generation of neophytes to become members of their organizations without the customary hematomas. Apparently, the morbid history of hazing deaths and even the threat of imprisonment cannot seem to break this disgusting practice.

What makes hazing so unique and appalling is the fact that the victims knew the dangers of what they were getting into and yet entrusted their bodies, and effectively their lives, to their masters or superiors… the eventual perpetrators of the crime. The anti-hazing law cannot stop hazing. It can only punish the criminals after lives have been irreversibly changed.

If future crimes of this type are to be prevented, we as a society have to ingrain in our youth a healthy dose of self-respect so that they willingly abhor groups that embrace violence against fellow man as part of their rites of passage. This is tougher than catching the beaters and the killers, but it is the best way of freeing ourselves of the scourge of hazing.*