Police told not to conclude suicide in frat member's hanging

Just because he was found hanging by a rope should not be taken to mean suicide as it is also possible that he was pushed into it or something did it to prevent the victim from talking about the hazing which killed John Matthew Salilig, who was not being initiated but welcomed by the fraternity as he was admitted into the brotherhood during the pandemic.

Rep. Bernadette Herrera

Rep. Bernadette Herrera, who authored the anti hazing law of 2018 said a nationwide manhunt for all suspects in the deadly hazing of Salilig must be done. They should be made to feel that there is no place to hide, nor is there a way out for all the suspects.

A person of interest in the hazing killing of Salilig was found dead by hanging.

Death by hanging does not automatically mean suicide. One could have been hanged or forced into hanging himself. So, let us not be quick to conclude that it was suicide.

Yes, it could be suicide, plain and simple, perhaps because he was suddenly swallowed by guilt and fear; but isn’t it also possible that other perpetrators silenced him?

After all, he was the one allegedly driving one of the vehicles used in committing the crime, and he could have pinpointed those with him.

I hope the police investigators can dive deeper and look into that possibility.

Warrants of arrest are needed and fast for all the suspects not yet in custody and their accomplices after the fact.

The next moves would involve maybe more killing or fleeing the country.

A nationwide manhunt is needed now. Checkpoints must be set up. Transport terminals must be checked. The Bureau of Immigration, Aviation Security Group, and management of airports and seaports must be notified.

Whoever killed Salilig is probably getting help from other people.

The Philippine National Police and National Bureau of Investigation mustcast a wider, stronger net. Mayors and barangay chairpersons should also help. There must be no place to hide, no way out for those responsible.

Jeoffrey Salilig, father of 24-year old chemistry student who died in hazing rites of Adamson University in Manila, said he and his family were on a quest for justice for his son, who was brutalized by his brothers at the Tau Gamma Phi last month.

Salilig tried to hold back his tears as he and the rest of his family reunited with John Matthew, the youngest of his seven children whom they fondly called Matt-Matt, whose battered body was flown home to Zamboanga City on a military plane accompanied by elder brother John Martin, reported Inquirer.

There were no more tight hugs, no more kisses, no jokes, no more surprises for Matt-Matt, who arrived in a casket received by his grieving family on Thursday morning.

“I wanted to shout, I wanted to cry, but I am trying to hold back everything for the sake of the family,” Salilig said. “I need to stay calm because everyone is emotional.”

He shook with anger as he looked at pictures of Matt-Matt’s naked body after it was recovered from a shallow grave two days earlier.

“How could they do this barbarian act to a person? Imagine, 17 people delivering six paddle hits each to Matt-Matt. Definitely, that was not a welcoming rite; it was murder,” he said.

Police had informed him that six of those involved in the Tau Gamma Phi initiation rites were in custody.

He said he wanted to see all 17 rot in jail.

He should be the last

“Our family and the communities here are embarking on a quest for justice,” he said. “Our aim is to make sure that Matthew is the last person to be victimized by hazing, we will not stop demanding justice until everyone involved in the crime is jailed for life.”

Matt-Matt, a third year student at Adamson University in Manila, has been a member since 2020 of the local Tau Gamma Phi Fraternity, Cabato Road Chapter under Triskelion Grand Fraternity and Sorority, Zamboanga City Council.

John Martin, 26, and their eldest sibling, John Michael, 39, both Tau Gamma members, had approved the Adamson chapter’s invitation to Matt-Matt to attend the “welcoming” rites since these just usually involved a simple get-together among fraternity members.

“It is really heavy on our part. We never expected this to happen,” said Martin.

Salilig, an assessment officer in the Zamboanga city assessor’s office, said that when he learned that his sons had joined the fraternity, he reminded them “to stay grounded and not to harm any person.”

“I raised them as good people. Not all in the Tau Gamma are bad people,” he said.

He appealed to parents whose children were victims of hazing to join them in seeking justice.

“Let us bond together to put an end to this barbaric act. Brotherhood is about love and protection, not killing,” he said. “As parents, we love our children, we take care of them. Let us stop this act of brutality. Let’s join together in a crusade against hazing. Let’s be one in helping our children have a better future.”

Matt-Matt’s coffin was placed beside his grandfather’s at La Merced funeral homes. The 86-year-old Romulo Salilig died of multiple organ failure on February 22, four days after his favorite grandson was reported missing.

Matt-Matt was last seen by Martin heading to Biñan City, Laguna province, on February 17. He was reported missing the next day and his body was found in a shallow grave 10 days later in Imus, Cavite province, about 27 kilometers away by car.

Zamboanga City Mayor John Dalipe visited the wake on Thursday morning and assured the family that the local government would provide all the necessary assistance in pursuing justice against those responsible for Matt-Matt’s death.

In a March 2 resolution, the Zamboanga City Council of the Triskelion Grand Fraternity and Sorority declared all members of the Tau Gamma Phi-Adamson University chapter persona non grata.

The group denounced the Adamson chapter’s members for “inflicting great violence against a fellow who already had a ‘full pledged membership,’ and conducting welcoming rites that resulted in the murder of a fellow member, blatantly disregarding the Codes of Conduct and Tenet of the fraternity and sorority.”

“We … condemn the actions and activities of the Adamson University Chapter… as unbecoming of [that of a] Triskelion and declare the group and its affiliates undesirable and unwelcome,” it said in a statement.

The private Catholic university, which is run by the Congregation of the Mission in Manila, banned fraternities many years ago, according to Fr. Marcelo Manimtim, an Adamson alumnus and the university president who led the requiem Mass for Matt-Matt on Thursday.

“Now that it has happened under my watch, you will understand the grief, sorrow and consternation that we experience because it has come too close to us,” Manimtim told reporters.

It was the first fraternity-related violence that resulted in the death of an Adamson student, according to him.

Manimtim said the school authorities were aware that two fraternities were still active despite the ban and they knew the student members.

He said the fraternities’ recruitment and initiation rites were being done outside campus.

The activities of the fraternities were out of their hands as they could not forbid students from getting involved in affairs off-campus, Manimtim said.

“We have to take action in the case of John Matthew because our student has been involved. We owe it to the community to have the feeling of safety, not only within but also as much as we can even outside the university,” he said.

Facing expulsion

Manimtim said the students directly involved in the death of Matt-Matt who are currently enrolled would be expelled from the university as soon as an investigation established their responsibility in the case.

Matt-Matt, a petroleum engineering student who shifted to chemistry last year, was “super nice and jolly,” according to Larsen Alvarado, one of his close friends.

“He didn’t deserve this and it hurts to lose him because of the frat,” he said.

Alvarado said some friends were planning to go to Tagaytay on the day of the initiation rites and Matt-Matt did not respond to their invitation to join them.

Manimtim said all of their students call each other “classmate,” no matter the course or degree program they’re in.

“So, for the other students, John Matthew is always a classmate and you know that feeling, we’re a big family. We’re not so big a university so the feeling of a family, even among the faculty members is very strong so maybe you understand that feeling of loss for somebody who is close to us,” he said.

The Commission on Higher Education (CHEd) also condemned the hazing death and vowed to take steps to eradicate “all forms of senseless acts of violence” in colleges and universities.

“CHEd enjoins all higher education stakeholders, especially our schools, faculty, staff and students, to join hands and actively strive to end this culture of violence that continues to plague our institutions of higher learning,” said CHEd Chair Prospero de Vera III.

The Philippine National Police (PNP) on Friday warned anyone who will meddle with its investigation on the death of Salilig with its stern warning directed at anyone, regardless of position or status in life, who will to intervene and meddle in the conduct of investigation and prosecution of the said case will not be tolerated,” the national police force said in a statement.

It added that all units have been tapped “to collaborate, exert utmost effort and maximize all available resources” in solving the case.

Salilig attended the initiation rites of Tau Gamma Phi fraternity before he was reported missing on Feb. 18.

Ten days later, police found his battered and decomposing remains dumped in a vacant lot in Imus, Cavite.

An autopsy report showed that Salilig died due to “severe blunt force trauma in the lower extremities.”

A witness had earlier told the police that Salilig was beaten with a paddle at least 70 times during which he vomited and defecated.

At least six Tau Gamma members–Earl Anthony Romero, Tung Cheng Teng, Jerome Balot, Sandro Victorino, Michael Lambert Ritalde and Mark Pedrosa–are facing formal complaints for Salilig’s death.

Tags: #RepHerrera, #notzeroinonsuicide, #TauGammaPhi, #AdamsonUniversity