Bishop slams beating death at Philippine military academy

A bishop in the Philippines has condemned what he described as the “unnecessary” loss of life of a future soldier as a result of an alleged beating at the country’s premier military academy.

Bishop Oscar Florencio of the country’s Military Ordinariate said excessive punishments and the practice of hazing at the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) has to stop.

“I wish that this should be properly dealt with because we are losing lives unnecessarily with the deaths of cadets who could be at the service of people and country,” said the prelate.

A military cadet died on Sept. 18 after he was supposedly punished by seniors at the academy over a pair of missing combat boots.

Investigators said at least two senior cadets carried out the physical punishment on the orders of another cadet.

Cadet 4th Class Darwin Dormitorio, 20, died after complaining of stomach pains. He was admitted to hospital twice in August and had bruises to his stomach consistent with a beating.

The academy’s superintendent and other officials tendered their resignations on Sept. 24.

A few days after Dormitorio’s death, two more cadets, who happened to be Dormitorio’s classmates, were reportedly taken to hospital with signs of having been beaten.

Bishop Florencio lamented how beatings have become “embedded” in military training for the sake of camaraderie and machismo.

“[The military] thinks that this is something that will add to their camaraderie as uniformed men and to say the least the machismo,” said the prelate.

Human rights group Karapatan said Dormitorio’s death “is indicative of a long-standing practice and a mentality that inflicting harm on others is permissible.”

“[It] is truly abhorrent that hazing and torture … are happening inside an institution that is expected to develop and train the youth to become officers who serve and protect human rights,” said Roneo Clamor, deputy secretary-general of rights group Karapatan.

He said the incident at the military academy shows that “torture is alive and is being inculcated among students inside the military school amid all of our existing laws.”

Salvador Panelo, President Rodrigo Duterte’s legal spokesman, called for a more stringent law against hazing and excessive punishments, including their classification as heinous crimes.

“We will prosecute those people behind it,” he said, adding that the president is not tolerant of these “kinds of barbaric acts.”

In June last year, Duterte signed into law the Anti-Hazing Act of 2018, which prohibits hazing and imposes harsher penalties on those who practice it.

If hazing results in death, rape, sodomy, or mutilation, those who planned and participated in it can expect at least 30 years in prison and a fine of about US$57,000.

Source: UCAN