Senate hazing probe pointed UST officials’ “negligence”
Senators put blame on the “negligence” of the University of Santo Tomas (UST) which resulted to the death of Horacio “Atio” Castillo III during the senate hazing probe on Monday.
From left to right: Atty. Maria Cristina Layusa, Mr. Jorge Catalan Jr., Mr. Nilo Divina, Ma. Socorro Guan Hing. Photo by Amabelle San Pedro/THE FOURTH
Sen. Grace Poe questioned UST officials on the procedure for the recognition of organizations and for allowing Aegis Juris Fraternity to continue its activities even though it was not a recognized by the University’s Office of Student Affairs (OSA) this year.
Senator Poe asked UST Civil Law Dean Nilo Divina on why the Aegis Juris had a representative during the freshmen orientation last August in UST despite not being recognized organization this year
“Hindi ba kapag orientation, doon nagrerecruit ng mga bagong sasali sa organisasyon, so kung sila ay suspendido, bakit mayroon silang presence doon sa orientation?” Poe said.
(Isn’t it during orientation, there is a recruitment of new comers in an organization? So if they are suspended, why were they present in the orientation?)
Divina answered that it was not the office of the dean that organized the conference or meeting concerning the freshmen orientation but it was the Civil Law Student Council.
“Did you send any correspondence or letter informing the Student Council or the Students Affairs Office that Aegis Juris is indeed suspended and they should not be allowed to participate in any student activities?” Poe asked Divina.
Divina said that OSA is the one in charge in determining recognized organizations and not the Office of the Dean.
Director of OSA Socorro Guan Hing said that there is a procedure for the recognition of organizations.
“It starts with - their coming up - certain requirements, so these students are supposed to adhere to those requirements and,then, they are, supposedly, signed, endorsed, by the father regent, the dean, the Student Welfare Development Board (SWDB) coordinator, before these papers are turned to us for the final approval,” Guan Hing clarified.
She also mentioned that there are two classifications of organizations in UST: college-based, where fraternities and sororities come in, and university-based.
According to Senator Zubiri, Atio’s death could have been avoided if UST and the College of Law had come out with an official list of recognized and unrecognized organizations.
