Bonded by violence
The report was distressingly familiar: An unconscious young man was brought to a hospital—or rather dumped there, because the persons who delivered him to the facility fled thereafter. The young man was declared dead, and an autopsy revealed that he had died of blunt force trauma in the lower extremities.
Not only was the victim beaten black and blue; fruits and chili seeds were found on his groin and buttocks, indicating that his tormentors had taken pleasure in prolonging the victim’s agony in particularly degrading ways.
Maritime student Mark Kenneth Alcedo was only 19 years old when he died from hazing injuries last month, in the hands of his so-called brothers in the Tau Gamma Phi fraternity. Alcedo and two more neophytes allegedly underwent the violent initiation rites in Dasmariñas, Cavite, on March 1.
The two other neophytes survived the ordeal, but Alcedo, once he succumbed to the physical abuse, was given the same callous treatment other hazing victims had suffered: abandoned in a hospital to die, the perpetrators then vanishing into the night, leaving yet another Filipino family to deal with the trauma and grief of a child’s needless death.
Perverted view
This is the second death linked to Tau Gamma Phi in a span of less than two years. In September 2024, Ren Joseph Bayan, an 18-year-old Grade 11 student from Nueva Ecija, died due to hemorrhagic shock following a brutal beating by his Tau Gamma Phi superiors.
The latest horrific news on hazing involves not fraternities, but an organization shaped by the same culture of brute force, violence, and toxic masculinity: a police academy.
According to reports, at least 22 plebes or first-year cadets at the Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA) in Silang, Cavite, suffered burns and injuries after they were punished by three upperclassmen for a perceived infraction. The mode of punishment virtually constituted torture: Toxic liquid, a mixture of drain cleaner and muriatic acid, was poured on them, causing third-degree burns on the backs and private areas of the victims. The incident happened inside their PNPA barracks on April 3.
That day was Good Friday in the Catholic calendar, and perhaps, in the culprits’ perverted view, it was an apt occasion to inflict gruesome suffering on their colleagues—young men like them aspiring to wear the police uniform someday and serve as enforcers of law and order in their communities.
Default mode
But here, in the middle of their taxpayer-funded formation as future officers of the law, hazing seems to remain the default mode for instilling discipline, order, and conformity. Those wielding petty power over others casually resort to cruel, sadistic behavior despite the presence of Republic Act No. 11053, or the Anti-Hazing Act, which these cadets surely would have learned as part of their curriculum.
Three suspects have by now been taken into custody for the grisly hazing of the plebes, and Philippine National Police chief Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. has ordered the removal of PNPA officers in charge of the academy. Specifically, nine officials are facing investigation for supposed lapses in reporting the incident.
Among the alleged lapses was the late and incomplete report made on the incident. “The crime occurred [on] April 3 and the full information was given to the PNP chief [on] April 7,” said Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla. Given the gravity of the offense, the delay raises suspicions that a cover-up may have been attempted, with officials scrambling to keep the incident under wraps.
The National Police Commission has stepped in by announcing “bold and decisive institutional changes” at the police academy designed to “root out and eliminate this culture of hazing.” “Hazing will stop under our watch,” it vowed.
Bedrock of brotherhood
The public, unfortunately, will not hold its breath on that promise, because they have heard such assurances before. Time and again, authorities have vowed to crack down on hazing activities conducted inside fraternities, at campuses, and in government-run institutions such as the Philippine Military Academy and the PNPA.
And yet the body count continues to rise—scores of young men dying for their dreams of belonging to a fellowship that promised them lifelong comradeship, social support, and networking opportunities that would enable them to advance at work or in society. On one condition, of course: that they emerge intact—bruised, bloodied, but basically alive—from the violent bonding ritual that all new recruits must first go through, ensuring that such shared pain is the true bedrock of the brotherhood.
That warped mindset continues to drive the culture of hazing plaguing the country. Unless the government orders a serious, far-reaching crackdown on this depraved practice, by pursuing its practitioners all the way to conviction and substantial jail time, more young Filipinos are likely to end up scarred for life, or worse, once again dumped lifeless at a hospital door.
