LEAVING the University with a heavy heart, he transferred to another school with hopes of earning a college degree. But in a twisted turn of events, his dreams were shattered by deadly blows of a wooden paddle.
A College of Commerce student from 2002 to 2004, Marlon Villanueva, who transferred to the University of the Philippines, Los Baños campus (UPLB), was killed in an apparent hazing incident in Calamba, Laguna earlier this month. Villanueva, 21, was declared dead-on-arrival by doctors of the Jose Rizal Memorial Hospital in Calamba. He suffered severe physical injuries as a result of a suspected initiation rite at Villa Novaliches resort last Jan. 14.
Police arrested two members of the Alpha Phi Omega fraternity chapter at UPLB who brought the victim to the hospital. They were identified as Jericho Paril, 25, of Meycauyan, Bulacan, and Brandon Gonzales, 22, of Calauan, Laguna.
SPO1 Gabriel Noguera, Calamba police investigator, said Villanueva, who was taking up agriculture economics at UPLB, seemed to be a neophyte applying for membership in the fraternity. They are still waiting for the autopsy results of the examination done on the victim’s body which bore contusions in the thighs.
“The victim’s body was badly beaten, it was black and blue,” Noguera told the Philippine Daily Inquirer in an interview.
Paril and Gonzales were charged with violation of Republic Act 8049, the Anti-Hazing Law, before the Calamba Prosecutor’s office. Hazing that result in death carries a penalty of incarceration for a minimum of 20 years and one day and a maximum of 40 years.
Accounting senior Margaret Javillo, who knew Villanueva, said he transferred to UPLB because of financial reasons.
“He told us (his friends) that his father would tease him to stop going to school for a while so that they can buy a new TV,” she said in an interview with the Varsitarian. “But it seems that his jokes were pregnant with meaning.”
Javillo said she last saw Villanueva during last year’s Paskuhan festivities. They would also exchange text messages, catching up with each others lives.
Javillo did not also expect Villanueva to join a fraternity since he was the “silent type.” She described him as a “very kind and intelligent student.”
“If he did not transfer to another school, he would have topped the accounting majors,” Villanueva said. M.L. Morelos
