FRATERNITIES or some form of associations for so-called male bonding have been a mainstay in the making of this nation, be it Rizal’s La Liga Filipina, or Bonifacio’s Katipunan, or as in recent cases, in ts unmaking: such as the college fraternities of the despised dictator Ferdinand Marcos, Zamboanga siege butcher Nur Misuari, and other criminals and corruptionists of our sordid history.
It is sad though that recently, fraternity hazing has ended yet another young life. Counting that and the several unresolved cases that still haven’t found the light of a solid court decision, we seem to have constituted a nation of barbarians masquerading as brothers.
Just last year, the Thomasian community was mourning the loss of UST Legal Management alumnus, Marc Andre Marcos, who had moved to San Beda College for his law studies, but whose studies—and life—were cut short when he died from wounds inflicted by fraternity hazing.
His death, like those before him, was a tragedy and yet here we are again, shocked at another fatal fraternity hazing, this time at the College of St. Benilde.
Supposedly, there is a law against hazing, but it seems the law is more honored in the breach than in its compliance.
There are countless columns and editorials that have pleaded for a stronger anti-hazing law, but in the light of recent events, it seems that what is needed is not a tougher law, but firmer implementation of an already existing law.
Perhaps, there will also be no more need of a tougher law if the fraternities let go of their tradition of hurting new blood before welcoming them into the “family.” There is much to be questioned about this quaint family "tradition" since loyalty cannot be measured by subjecting neophytes to violence and bloodshed.
Violence should never make one believe that he is loved and supported; tough love is no love at all, and those who believe this have been fooling themselves and others.
But why the persistence of hazing and other forms of fraternity violence? The answer may lie in the persistence of tribalism and the primitive wars of old.
The answer lies also perhaps in totem violence engendered from one generation to the next, like the Attic tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, as many of these Greek-letter fraternities have alumni from previous generations who encourage their children to go through the humiliation and violence of fraternity initiation. These same children will become full-fledged frat men and pass on the gore and bloodshed to the next generation.
The answer may also lie in contemporary violence, how we have been sensitized to violence and its images so much so that nothing shocks us anymore, not hazing, not the gruesome deaths due to hazing.
The answer may lie in the exclusivism and elitism of our higher education system as many of the victims come from schools of the rich, the elite, and the oligarchy.
Not content that they have been constituted into an elite class by the invisible but powerful materialism of the school system, fraternities seek further exclusivism, higher forms of elitism, imposing further on society the violence that comes from class war and class struggle.
How can fraternity violence be stopped when our courts and law enforcement system come from the same old boys club engendered by a class-conscious and rapacious socio-economic system?
Because of the persistence of hazing, fraternity violence has become part of the persistent culture of impunity of the Philippines.
None has really been brought to justice for hazing since our justice system comes from the same old boys' network fostered by fraternity exclusivism.
No less than the nation is hostage to the greed and violence of Greek-letter fraternities whose only connection with the glory that was Greece is its slave system, its inegalitarianism, and its lust for blood.
