Death of a Brother.

News of recent telecast has been focusing on the death of Lex Leonum Fraternitas neophyte Marc Andre Marcos, a freshman student at the San Beda College of Law, who allegedly died of hazing related incidents. Five months ago, another freshman, Marvin Reglos, has suffered the same fate from the Lambda Rho Beta Fraternity.

It’s disheartening that a future lawyer, or probably a future Chief Justice, died in the hands of his so-called brothers in an attempt to be embraced in the same organization that has produced Bar Topnotchers, key government officials, and thought movers. The sad part is, his death, similar to other neophytes, has been clouded in secrecy. Thoughts of desolation will be left to his loved ones while carrying the anguish and pain on to their own graves.

The idea of hazing has not appealed to me, neither in college nor in law school. True, friends have been part of fraternities, and they tried to recruit me a couple of times. My roommate in law school was part of the biggest fraternity in our school, and on certain unguarded conversations, he divulged that the measure of allegiance was directly proportional to the number of blows received. The more painful the process was, the chances of loyalty to the organization were higher. In his case, he had to stay at his friends house for four days after he was paddled. I don’t know how loyal he is to his fraternity to this date. I don’t even know how they measured loyalty. What was certain though was their failure to see the entire process of violence before reaping the so-called undying loyalty. And with this kind of cycle, violence will never stop.

Obvious as it may seem, I will never understand the real purpose behind every blow, every punch, and every paddle that hits a neophyte’s body. I am, after all, not part of any fraternity and I have never been subjected to this ordeal. I can’t, and probably won’t, understand the entire process or the psyche that goes with it. But, in every body that goes down or in every neophyte that dies, an entire family will be exposed to the pain of losing a son, a child, a brother, a relative. They will lose the opportunity of hearing their kid complain about a failed recitation, a difficult exam, or a terrible professor. They will never get to pin the medal or take photographs during the kid’s graduation. They will certainly miss that proud moment of seeing their kid’s name on every newspaper for passing the Bar, or for becoming a Topnotcher. These, and more, will forever be denied to them. If people can’t see pass that; then there is something terribly wrong to begin with.

I am not providing the best solution in the world, but I think the school has the upper hand in this whole thing. If the school will be more vigilant, and more stringent in imposing penalties such as expulsion of all current members of the fraternity, whatever year level, it might possibly deter organizations from initiating hazing-related incidents. But, the problem goes deeper, considering that most faculty members, including the administration, are themselves members of the fraternities.

I think people should not only light candles every time a fallen neophyte becomes the center of news. We should always light candles to remind people that death, particularly those without any means of defending themselves, is untenable. People have to realize that this culture of violence throws us back to the age of barbarism, where lives are only as important as the next Gladiator. If this continues, fraternities should not have a place in the halls of learning, nor be allowed to study the concept of fairness, justice, and equity.

May his light never dim.