In a haze

“He ascribes to other forms of discipline with no more physical contact to go with the times.

Death is a personal reality encountered by many every single day. Illness is the most common culprit for these little holes in the heart, the ones that threaten to overwhelm you if you let them.

Death due to hazing, on the other hand, creates much darker gaping spaces, not just in the hearts of the victims’ families, but also in our society that still refuses to acknowledge the real problems that come with it.

It’s always heartbreaking to hear about young men, so full of promise, losing their lives because of hazing.

When you imagine the physical rigors they went through, the pain and trauma of that final blow, you can’t help but feel anger and despair.

Why did they have to die? Why couldn’t it have been prevented?

It was right for Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Superintendent Lt. Gen. Ronnie Evangelista to resign in the wake of the latest death at the PMA allegedly due to hazing.

It was under his watch that freshman cadet Darwin Dormitorio died, even with the Anti-Hazing law in place — even with the ban on all forms of hazing by order of President Rodrigo Duterte.

Brig. Gen Bartolome Bacarro also stepped down as commandant of cadets.

That it should continue like this we can begin to understand if we agree with what Sen. Ronald “Bato” de la Rosa said last Tuesday — that hazing is deeply embedded in the PMA culture.

To quote a report on his interview: “Just imagine, if hazing exists even in civilian universities, what more in the military academy? These men are being trained to become warriors.”

Of course, those who have survived hazing would likely espouse its meaning for their organization, but the fact remains that individuals have been killed because of its practice.

For those who lost loved ones due to hazing, it is simply and always will be a violence committed on another human being ostensibly for brotherhood and unity.

Hazing is a crime for them, one that deserves capital punishment, some even believe.

The senator, however, agreed that “PMA cadets must turn to other means of instilling discipline among their underclassmen.”

Times have changed, also said former PMA cadet and now Sen. Panfilo Lacson. He ascribes to other forms of discipline with no more physical contact to go with the times.

After all, Republic Act 11053 or the Anti-Hazing Act of 2018, an amendment of the 1995 version, also imposes higher penalties for those who will be proven guilty of hazing.

For example, in Dormitorio’s case, those involved and found guilty also face a possible 40 years in prison.

In other words, the death of one will also cause a kind of “death” of those responsible for it.

This was the legacy of Horacio “Atio” Castillo III, a University of Santo Tomas law freshman, whose death resulted in the ratification of the bill in Congress.

Since 1954, when the first victim was reported, and since then, at least 31 deaths have reportedly been caused by hazing.

The latest news from PMA is that more cadets have been brought to the hospital for injuries suspected to be due to hazing. We hope they heal. We hope they don’t die from having discipline beaten into them.

Need we see more of such losses of life just to know what to do about hazing?