MANILA, Aug. 23 (PNA) — The Supreme Court verdict upholding the conviction of two fraternity members charged in the death of a University of the Philippines Los Baños student in 2006 shows that Republic Act No. 8049 or the Anti-Hazing Law is working, Malacañang said Sunday.
Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte welcomed the high court’s decision with hopes that it would serve as an effective deterrent against hazing and other related violence.
“If there is any hope for this conviction, it is that it will have an effect on others; meaning, na makita po nila na mayroong batas na gumagana pagdating po dito sa ating Anti-Hazing Law at dapat ma-deter po sila na hindi labagin itong batas na ito,” Valte said over Radyo ng Bayan.
“It’s one thing to have a law that is passed that criminalizes a certain act; it’s another to see that the law is actually in effect and it actually works and that it produces convictions,” she added.
The case involved Alpha Phi Omega fraternity members Dandy Dungo and Gregorio Sibal Jr., primary suspects in the brutal hazing of 21-year-old agriculture economics student Marlon Villanueva in 2006.
The Laguna Regional Trial Court Branch 36 found the two guilty of the crime in 2011. Their conviction was affirmed by the Court of Appeals in 2013 and later on upheld by the Supreme Court in its recent decision.
Dungo and Sibal were sentenced to life imprisonment of a minimum 20 years and a day to 40 years, making it the first ever conviction made by the courts under RA 8049.
“Hopefully, maka-contribute po itong conviction na ito sa pagbaba ng mga ganitong pangyayari, lalo kabataan po usually ang na-i-involve sa ganyan,” Valte said. (PNA)