THE Department of Justice has reopened its preliminary investigation on the fatal hazing of University of Santo Tomas law student Horacio Castillo III by members of the Aegis Juris fraternity.
This was revealed on Thursday by Assistant Prosecutor Wendell Bendoval, member of the DoJ panel hearing the charges of murder, hazing and obstruction of justice against the fraternity members, saying the preliminary investigation would resume after it had been submitted for resolution.
Bendoval said the panel had received the affidavit of Marc Anthony Ventura, one of the 37 respondents who turned witness, from the DoJ’s witness protection program last Jan. 3.
During the earlier hearings, Ventura did not submit his sworn statement, which provided the details on what took place during the Aegis Juris initiation rites, which led to the death of Castillo last September 17, 2017.
“It’s material evidence we have to consider. So, we have to reopen the preliminary investigation. We can’t resolve the case if the evidence is incomplete,” he stressed.
For this purpose, the panel will resume the hearings at 2 p.m. today (Friday) when Ventura, a member of the fraternity, is expected to appear and subscribe to his affidavit.
The respondents would also be given copies of the affidavit and required to submit their comments in the next hearings.
In his six-page affidavit submitted to the DoJ last October, Ventura revealed that 23 members of their fraternity were present during Castillo’s initiation rites held in their library last Sept. 17.
Ventura, who participated in the hazing but now under the witness protection program, gave nine new names—Edric Pilapil, Zach Abulencia, Daniel Ragos, Dave Felix, Sam Cagalingan, Alex Cairo, Luis Kapulong, Kim Cyrill Roque and Ged Villanueva.
He also confirmed the participation of their fraternity president Arvin Balag, master initiator Axel Munro Hipe and 12 other members already charged before the DoJ-Ralph Trangia, Oliver John Audrey Onofre, Mhin Wei Chan, Daniel Hans Matthew Rodrigo, Karl Matthew Villanueva, Joshua Joriel Macabali, Marcelino Bagtang, Zimon Padro, Jose Miguel Salamat, Leo Lalusis, Alex Bose and Robin Ramos.
Ventura also recalled a female companion of Bose present in the library during the initiation rites.
The witness said the initiation rites started at 2 a.m. with a prayer so that nothing untoward would happen during the process.
He said they required Castillo to do some stretching before proceeding with the rites.
Ventura said frat members then started the hazing by punching Castillo’s arms.
He said they then used spatulas in tapping Castillo’s arms to reduce the swelling and calm the muscles, before hitting him with paddles.
After the third hit, the initiators asked Castillo if he could still endure the process to which he answered yes, according to the affidavit.
However, after the fourth hit, the neophyte collapsed at 5 a.m.
He said they then decided to summon another member who had a medical background, John Paul Solano, to help revive Castillo who still had pulse at that time.
Ventura said they carried Castillo to a pickup and set to bring him to a nearby hospital until Solano came and they decided to bring the neophyte back to the library to see if their member would be able to revive him.
When Solano failed to revive Castillo, they decided to bring him to the Chinese General Hospital where the neophyte was declared dead on arrival.
The other respondents have submitted their respective answers to the complaint filed by the Manila Police District and Castillo’s parents Horacio Jr. and Carminia.
All of them denied criminal liabilities and sought dismissal of the charges.
