In memory of Cris Mendez.
***
I didn't plan to post anything for now, only that the news of death of a UP student disturbed me.
***
I asked my classmates where they are going to study in college. of course the would answer those acclaimed schools in the country, UP, Ateneo, De La Salle, UST, PLM and so on.. Some even answered Harvard, Princeton, Cambridge..
University of the Philippines has been always the primary choice of my parents and I. It's like an unwritten fact in the house. Second on my list is Ateneo. But if you're going to ask me what am I to choose between several UP branches, of course I would choose Diliman, my parents knew that. Part of the reason is that the thick of the action is there. Second, I'm not going to enroll for nursing, medicine, dentistry or what.. Third, well I cannot explain it.
The rising tuition fee has affected my parents' decision. But still I would insist. But the second that really affected the decision on whether I'm going to study at that school is the death of Cris Mendez. I do not know him personally, I just knew him because he appeared in the news shows these past few days, he was killed by hazing.
The fraternity involved in this matter is Sigma Rho. I never knew how fraternities worked, even my father didn't tell me how it was when he joined one, only that he had shown me the mark tattoed on his hand to prove that he had been part of that brotherhood.
I then saw that for you to be included in a frat, there would be some initiation process, and that includes weird tasks, and hitting your legs (behind) with a paddle. But irresponsibilities on the side of the initiators have caused the deaths of innocent people who happened to be the hope of their families.
I thought of Cris Mendez. He was a twenty-year old student who had garnered many achievements since when he was a child. He was the hope of his family. And yet, he was a victim of what had been a senseless death. He was one of many deceased students who died because of violence. The news of hazing has been dormant for awhile for I remember the prominence of those deaths when I was still a young child, still naive of the impact of these deaths. But now I knew, and for some reason I could not help but feel grief for these families.
How many dreams were shattered due to these what we call hazing? Haven't they learned from what happened in the past? Do they really need to exercise extreme violence to the extent of death for someone to join this brotherhood? Violence for brotherhood? I really don't get it nor the time will come when I fully understand it. It's just for me hard to accept.
Losing a loved one isn't like losing a limb, it's like losing a part of you, like that important part has been also buried into the grave. The fact that your loved one has died due to a senseless act was even more painful. It makes your heart tear a million times more. I haven't experienced losing a loved one like this but when I try to imagine how his family felt, I knew that this was beyond words to explain.
Knowing that there are still many hazing cases pending to be investigated, I can't help but feel rage boiling on me, some cases were still waiting for ten years already. It was already a decade ago when it happened and now it has not yet been closed, is Cris going to be included on the "waiting list" for justice?
Many innocent people perished due to a violence-related act of initiation. How many are going to die in the future? How many families will suffer? How many dreams will shatter?
Justice must be served. I am not an expert to say something on this field. But I knew justice must be served. I believe that those people behind these must shed off their masks and tell the truth. It was in their hands that these innocent people died. Had this thing happened to them, would they not vie for the same thing, for justice?
***
Maybe I could not change the way things are done in a fraternity but I know responsibility on the part of the brotherhood should be exercised so as not to cause any of these senseless deaths and they should know to claim their mistake once a person died in their hands. People are fed-up with these issues.
On my part, I really do not think that violence must be exercised for one to be included in a camaraderie.
I didn't plan to post anything for now, only that the news of death of a UP student disturbed me.
***
I asked my classmates where they are going to study in college. of course the would answer those acclaimed schools in the country, UP, Ateneo, De La Salle, UST, PLM and so on.. Some even answered Harvard, Princeton, Cambridge..
University of the Philippines has been always the primary choice of my parents and I. It's like an unwritten fact in the house. Second on my list is Ateneo. But if you're going to ask me what am I to choose between several UP branches, of course I would choose Diliman, my parents knew that. Part of the reason is that the thick of the action is there. Second, I'm not going to enroll for nursing, medicine, dentistry or what.. Third, well I cannot explain it.
The rising tuition fee has affected my parents' decision. But still I would insist. But the second that really affected the decision on whether I'm going to study at that school is the death of Cris Mendez. I do not know him personally, I just knew him because he appeared in the news shows these past few days, he was killed by hazing.
The fraternity involved in this matter is Sigma Rho. I never knew how fraternities worked, even my father didn't tell me how it was when he joined one, only that he had shown me the mark tattoed on his hand to prove that he had been part of that brotherhood.
I then saw that for you to be included in a frat, there would be some initiation process, and that includes weird tasks, and hitting your legs (behind) with a paddle. But irresponsibilities on the side of the initiators have caused the deaths of innocent people who happened to be the hope of their families.
I thought of Cris Mendez. He was a twenty-year old student who had garnered many achievements since when he was a child. He was the hope of his family. And yet, he was a victim of what had been a senseless death. He was one of many deceased students who died because of violence. The news of hazing has been dormant for awhile for I remember the prominence of those deaths when I was still a young child, still naive of the impact of these deaths. But now I knew, and for some reason I could not help but feel grief for these families.
How many dreams were shattered due to these what we call hazing? Haven't they learned from what happened in the past? Do they really need to exercise extreme violence to the extent of death for someone to join this brotherhood? Violence for brotherhood? I really don't get it nor the time will come when I fully understand it. It's just for me hard to accept.
Losing a loved one isn't like losing a limb, it's like losing a part of you, like that important part has been also buried into the grave. The fact that your loved one has died due to a senseless act was even more painful. It makes your heart tear a million times more. I haven't experienced losing a loved one like this but when I try to imagine how his family felt, I knew that this was beyond words to explain.
Knowing that there are still many hazing cases pending to be investigated, I can't help but feel rage boiling on me, some cases were still waiting for ten years already. It was already a decade ago when it happened and now it has not yet been closed, is Cris going to be included on the "waiting list" for justice?
Many innocent people perished due to a violence-related act of initiation. How many are going to die in the future? How many families will suffer? How many dreams will shatter?
Justice must be served. I am not an expert to say something on this field. But I knew justice must be served. I believe that those people behind these must shed off their masks and tell the truth. It was in their hands that these innocent people died. Had this thing happened to them, would they not vie for the same thing, for justice?
***
Maybe I could not change the way things are done in a fraternity but I know responsibility on the part of the brotherhood should be exercised so as not to cause any of these senseless deaths and they should know to claim their mistake once a person died in their hands. People are fed-up with these issues.
On my part, I really do not think that violence must be exercised for one to be included in a camaraderie.
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