Palace condoles with Sigma Rho member’s family

The death of a 22-year-old student from the University of the Philippines-Diliman should serve as a reminder to everyone to be kind at all times, Malacañang said yesterday.

In a statement, presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo extended the Palace’s deepest sympathies to the bereaved family of the Sigma Rho fraternity member who was found dead from an apparent suicide over the weekend.

“While we are aware of the request of his school and his family to keep the matter private, the Office of the President simply wishes to relay and express its sincere and heartfelt condolences to the family, friends, classmates and loved ones of the deceased for the tragic loss,” Panelo, an alumnus of the organization, said.

“We hope that this will serve as a gentle reminder to everyone to extend kindness, patience and understanding to all, regardless of the circumstances, especially as we are now in the age of interactive computer-mediated technology,” he added.

Sigma Rho, regarded as one of the pioneer law student fraternities in Asia, is now under investigation after photos and screenshots of a group chat of its supposed members discussing hazing-related violence circulated online.

One photo showed a plebe whose arms were covered in bruises allegedly from the beating he received from senior members of the fraternity.

Those suspected to be involved in the alleged hazing incident are now under preventive suspension and will be formally charged once authorities gather enough evidence against them.