THE Manila Police District (MPD) is awaiting the counter-affidavit of Ralph Trangia, one of the main suspects in the hazing death of University of Santo Tomas (UST) law student Horacio Castillo III.
Trangia and his mother, Rosemarie, arrived from Taipei on Tuesday, barely a month after they went to the United States following the killing of Castillo in initiation rites of the Aegis Juries Fraternity.
MPD spokesperson Police Superintendent Erwin Margarejo said they are no longer expecting that they would be able to obtain the statement of Trangia since the suspect refused to communicate with the MPD since he arrived in the country from the US on Tuesday, October 10.
Trangia is among the 18 persons who were facing charges of murder, perjury, obstruction of justice, robbery and violation of the Anti-Hazing Law complaints filed by the MPD in connection to Castillo's death.
Charges were also filed against Trangia's parents and officials of the UST Faculty of Civil Law in relation to the death of Castillo.
Margarejo said they will rely on Trangia's statement in his counter-affidavit, which he will submit to the Department of Justice.
Aside from Trangia, his parents are also facing charges. His father, Antonio, is among the respondents in the murder, perjury, obstruction of justice, robbery and violation of the Anti-Hazing Law charges; while his mother, Rosemarie, is facing an obstruction of justice complaint.
Margarejo said the police will not stop gathering evidence to support their case against suspects in the hazing death of Castillo.
As for the claim of the legal counsel of hazing suspect John Paul Solano that the pieces of evidence gathered by the police inside the Aegis Juris library were illegally obtained, Margarejo said the search was legal.
"As I was saying since yesterday, the Manila Police District will always stand by the validity of the search that was conducted in the frat library. It's up to the judicial authorities to evaluate, assess, or decide, whether or not the search is valid," he said.
The evidence taken from the library where the submitted for forensic examination, he said.
Castillo, a freshman student of UST Faculty of Civil Law, died of cardiac arrest secondary to the injuries he obtained from hazing, which is part of the initiation rights for joining the Aegis Juris fraternity. (SunStar Philippines)