Wednesday, September 26, 2007 Frat hazing killed boy? By Jovy S. Taghoy With Rene H. Martel Sun.Star Staff Reporter
A 13-YEAR-OLD grade six pupil died at 12:15 a.m. yesterday, raising speculations that he was a victim of hazing rites.
Ren Atillo of Barangay Poblacion Pardo, Cebu City died days after suffering from fever and chest pains.
Ren did not make it alive at the Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC) when his father and grandmother rushed him there past 11 p.m. Monday.
Carlito P. Tinga, customer service supervisor of St. Francis Funeral Homes, said the boy died of sepsis and pneumonia.
Tinga read over the telephone the death certificate signed by medico-legal officer Dr. Gil Macato.
However, Ren’s father Renato, 36, suspects that his eldest son may have just finished initiation rites of a gang or fraternity because he noticed bruises on Ren’s right leg.
Renato also showed a red big handkerchief, which he believes is one of the symbols of the gang. He could not say, though, if his son belonged to the Crips or Bloods gang.
Renato said that last Monday morning he asked his son if he is a member of a gang but the latter refused to tell him.
“Ang istorya-istorya man gud daw anang gang kay piyaet must die. Maong wa gyud siya motug-an nako (We heard stories that the gang’s code is that anyone who squeals must die),” Renato said.
He does not plan to have his son autopsied.
Cebu City Councilor Gerardo Carillo said that if the speculation that Ren died from hazing is true, it is a cause for alarm since it means fraternities and gangs have made their way to elementary schools.
“I understand it supposedly happened outside the school. I’m really concerned. It is something alarming, which is why we must know whether it is fraternity-related,” he said.
Carillo, chairman of the Cebu City Commission for the Welfare and Protection of Children, is the City Council committee on education chairman.
Dr. Lorna Rances, City Schools Division superintendent, though, said that she immediately checked when she heard about Atillo’s death and found out that he died of dengue.
She said the nurse who attended to Atillo told her that all indications point to dengue as the cause of death.
“You in media, because you don’t believe and you suspect a cover-up, there are records in the hospital. Look them up. I won’t say any more,” Rances said in a telephone interview.
At the Cebu City Hall, Mayor Tomas Osmeña said he might call to a meeting the leaders of Crips and Bloods gangs, which recently made news because of violent clashes of members.
He said he does not have a clear picture yet of what’s really going on between the two groups, but he noticed that the Tau Gamma Phi and Alpha Kappa Rho (Akrho) “have not been in the forefront” now.
“It’s the younger ones,” he said, referring to both Crips and Bloods.
The mayor said he read in the papers about the arrest of 14 teenagers whom the police caught in the act of hitting two minors with a paddle during an initiation rite.
But Renato’s mother Norma Marturillas said her grandson died of dengue.
She said Ren confided to her that he fell from the stairs in Sto. Tomas de Villanueva Church last Thursday while hearing mass.
Ren’s butt hit the floor during the fall, Marturillas said.
By Friday, Ren developed a fever but he still attended classes at the Pardo Elementary School.
Last Saturday, Ren went to the neighboring Barangay Quiot to visit his classmate.
In his classmate’s house, Ren reportedly lost consciousness, prompting his classmate’s father to inform Renato.
Renato fetched his son.
Renato and Marturillas said they had asked Ren what caused bruises on his leg. Ren said they were caused by his fall.
Renato and Marturillas said they noticed Ren having a hard time walking straight.
On Sunday night, Marturillas said, Ren complained of chest pains and his fever worsened. Marturillas said they took Ren to the city hospital where he underwent an X-ray exam and urine and blood test.
Because Ren’s condition improved after he was given medicines, Marturillas said they checked him out of the hospital.
When they arrived home in Middle Tabucanal, Barangay Poblacion Pardo, she gave Ren rice and a boiled egg for dinner.
“After he ate the egg, he vomited. I also saw a huge bruise on his body. I do not believe he was in a hazing,” Marturillas said.
Marturillas and Renato said Ren will be buried on Saturday.
Poblacion Pardo Barangay Captain Danilo Lim, in an interview, said his office is investigating the incident.
The Pardo Police Station is also going to look into the case.
Initial information Lim gathered from Ren’s relatives indicated that the boy did not die from hazing.
Lim admitted, though, that he received information that some gang members, particularly Crips and Bloods, are recruiting teenagers in the barangay.
Because of this, Lim said they have strengthened the night patrols of tanods to monitor the activities of teenagers.
Pardo Elementary School principal Teresa Aliviado, in a separate interview, said they have not received any report of their pupils being recruited by gangs or fraternities.
She said they have been monitoring the activities of their pupils and that no outsiders are allowed to enter the school premises.
From 7 a.m. to 8 a.m. and from 11 a.m. to noon, only parents or guardians are allowed to get inside, Aliviado said. (JST/RHM)
