'Time stopped' for Atio's parents after hazing tragedy
Atio promised to be home by lunchtime on Sept. 17, 2017, Sunday, or a day after the welcome rites for new members of the Aegis Juris Fraternity.
The 22-year-old freshman at the Faculty of Civil Law, however, didn’t come home as planned.
Carmina and Horacio Jr. saw Atio for the last time on Sept. 16, Saturday, before their son left their Makati Bel-Air home for hours of "initiation rites" in the form of hazing by Aegis Juris fratmen.
Carmina recalled that she was praying the Rosary an hour past midnight on Sept. 18, Monday, hoping for the safe return of her son.
Worried that something wrong had happened, she said their family decided to look for Atio at the UST Hospital and the Aegis Juris library outside the University campus on Laon Laan Street.
Atio was nowhere to be found.
Later, a text message from an anonymous sender said their son was at the Chinese General Hospital.
The couple found Atio’s body lifeless and bloated, bearing bruises and burns from candle wax and cigarettes. Their dreams and aspirations for Atio had ended.
A year later, Carmina said it seemed as if time did not move for their family.
We remember every hour, every minute we felt scared he was missing… It was so fresh. I could remember every step. It was as if we stopped there… it is almost a year [but] it doesn't seem like a year.— Carmina Castillo
Atio’s death would spark public outrage and clamor to end the hazing culture among fraternities and sororities. It would move lawmakers to enact amendments to the Anti-Hazing Law of 1995 to completely ban hazing in all forms, be it physical or psychological.
It is called the “Atio Castillo Law.”
Missing pieces
“There is a piece of you missing. As much as possible you want to adjust but you cannot. Other people are moving on, you see the world change…you even see the children grow up,” Horacio Jr. said in Filipino.
Recalling an instance when Atio helped one of his friends pay tuition for law school, Carmina said she was angry with how her son “was left to die” by the Aegis Juris fratmen.
“Sayang na sayang. He could have been a good lawyer, a good senator or a good government official. Maybe he could have been a good president, but they (fratmen) wasted it. They removed those things from us,” she said.
Atio was fooled, deceived
Those who blame Atio for his choice to join a fraternity should think twice in doing so, as he was “fooled and deceived” by those who recruited him, Carmina said.
“Kahit na bawalan mo, he is an adult. Do not blame him… he said they (Aegis Juris) would not do anything that would embarrass the dean (Nilo Divina). In fact, they are lawyers… he believed it, he trusted them,” she added.
She said the fratmen did not inform Atio that their initiation rites would involve hazing.
Carmina also said she had warned her son about joining fraternities when Atio showed interest in joining Aegis Juris.
Hanging questions
The trial of 10 Aegis Juris fratmen for violations of the Anti-Hazing Law is underway.
In February of 2018, UST imposed the “supreme penalty of expulsion” on eight Aegis Juris fratmen tagged in Atio’s death. They were not named.
Carmina said her family wanted to know the reason behind the fratmen’s expulsion, adding that the University had yet to reach out to them.
“I want to clarify the reason why they were expelled. Were they expelled because they were no longer attending classes? Were they expelled because of what happened?” she said.
She also urged University officials to “be humble enough” to face their mistake.
“You have a calling from God to do and listen to what is right, to not be swayed with corruption,” she said.
An investigating panel, composed of six UST administrators and a representative from the Central Student Council, has said it would continue its probe until all students involved are held liable.
Atio’s parents warned students not to join fraternities, and heed the advice of their parents and follow the law.
“That violence has to stop. It’s not just inflicting violence on yourself, [you would also hurt] your parents,” she added.
A year has passed and the family now clings to the “very precious” memory of Atio by remembering the 22 years he spent with them and the good he had done for others.
He might not have achieved his dreams of becoming a lawyer but he is already “in the books,” Carmina said.
He is better than a lawyer,” she said. “Batas na siya, ‘di ba?