MANILA — Some members of the Aegis Juris fraternity and University of Santo Tomas (UST) law dean Nilo Divina, who were implicated in the hazing death of UST law freshman Horacio “Atio” Castillo III, on Monday appeared before the Department of Justice (DOJ) and filed their counter-affidavits to deny responsibility for Castillo’s death.
During the continuation of the preliminary investigation on Castillo’s death, Assistant State Prosecutor Susan Villanueva said that aside from Divina, former Isabela congressman and now Divina Law senior partner Edwin Uy, Aegis Juris members Arthur Capili, Nathan Anarna, Lennert Bryan Galicia and Chuck Siazar filed their respective answers and sought the dismissal of murder, hazing and obstruction of justice charges filed against them by Castillo’s parents.
In his 30-page counter-affidavit submitted to the prosecution panel, Divina maintained he had not committed a violation of the Anti-Hazing Law nor the Law on Obstruction of Justice, or Presidential Decree 1829.
Divina said that “a grave injustice (had) been committed” with the death of Atio. However, “another injustice is being perpetrated” by “certain quarters” who have “decided to exploit Atio’s death in their demolition job” against him.
He denied the allegation that he failed to prevent the hazing even if he had prior knowledge about it.
The UST law dean reiterated that he had been inactive in the Aegis Juris Fraternity since 2009, stressing that in compliance with the Anti-Hazing Law, UST had absolutely prohibited hazing since 2003 after the death of a student in a ROTC-related hazing activity.
With regard to his membership in the Aegis Juris Foundation, he explained that he had ceased to become a trustee thereof in 2009. He said the foundation itself had ceased to exist since 2012 with the revocation of its Certificate of Registration by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
In addition, he pointed out that ownership of the fraternity library where the hazing occurred cannot be ascribed to the foundation in the face of the admission by the police that the owner of the premises is a certain Vicente Garcia, who is among those charged.
He explained that he was unable to call the parents of Atio on September 17 because he had no confirmation on the identity of the student who had died and had no means to get details until the news broke out the next day on September 18.
He also denied the allegation that he was part of the cover-up on Castillo’s death by their fraternity based on his statement before the Senate inquiry that he issued a blanket suspension “to allow those responsible to escape undetected… and at the very least to avoid being directly questioned by the MPD.”
Divina further justified his initial issuance of a suspension order because of the gravity of the offense committed by the members of the fraternity and to protect the students of the Faculty who supposedly may be subjected to intimidation or harassment in the course of the investigation. The suspension order was lifted after the University had created an independent committee to investigate the hazing.
“If we juxtapose the acts imputed against me in the Supplemental Complaints with the elements of the offenses charged, it is clear that not one of the elements for an accomplice under the Anti-Hazing Law or Sections 1(a) and (c) of Presidential Decree 1829 is present,” said Divina.
Considering that the charges are clearly “baseless,” Divina said the motives behind the filing of the charges are suspect.
“The sudden change in focus from the perpetrators to the Dean was far from subtle. The most outrageous allegations were floated to the media by the ones who now act as counsel for complainants. Their allegations even ran counter to the pronouncements of their very own clients, the complainants herein. The Supplemental Complaint-Affidavits against me, therefore, are not just the products of an afterthought. These are the products of the crude maneuverings of persons who claim to represent complainants but in truth are pursuing their own personal agenda.”
“I have nothing but sympathy and respect for the complainants. I continue to reiterate my offer to help in whatever way I can. However, the Honorable Office should not allow Atio’s death to be used in furtherance of the selfish motives of those behind the smear campaign against me,” he added.
In summarizing his position, Divina said: “Indeed, while the full force of the law should be used to bring to justice those responsible for the death of Atio, we should also not allow his memory to be tainted with the persecution of innocent people in his name. For it is also a grave injustice to lay the blame on innocent people by forcing a narrative of complicity on the basis of sheer conjectures and twisted logic.”
The complaints filed by the MPD and Castillo’s parents named a total of 37 respondents.
The other respondents have already submitted their respective answers in earlier hearing. John Paul Solano, Ralph Trangia and other frat members claimed that Castillo died not from hazing injuries, but rather due to his pre-existing hypertrophic cardiomyopathy condition.
One of them, Aegis Juris member Marc Anthony Ventura has turned government witness and tagged 23 fraternity brothers involved in Castillo’s hazing.
Ventura did not submit his counter-affidavit.
Meanwhile, Villanueva said she had given other respondents until November 2 and 3 to submit their respective counter-affidavits.
The panel of prosecutors set the submission of a reply will be on November 9 while on November 16 will be the filing of the rejoinder.
Castillo died after attending the “welcoming rites” of the fraternity last September 16. (PNA)
