MANILA, Philippines – The family of University of the Philippines (UP) National College of Public Administration and Governance (NCPAG) student Cris Anthony Mendez, who was killed in fraternity hazing rites, is still waiting to get justice a year after his death.
Mendez died allegedly from heavy beating sustained during Sigma Rho fraternity hazing rites in August last year.
“There isn’t a day that I do not think of him,” said Mendez’s mother Cristy. “I still feel the way I felt the day he was killed.”
She told the Inquirer that until now the suspects in the killing had not been charged for lack of witnesses who could identify the persons involved in the hazing in a house in a posh subdivision in Barangay Pasong Tamo, Quezon City.
“It has been a year and my call for them (fraternity members) to surface remains unheeded. They said they were courageous. But (why can’t they admit) what they did?” Cristy said.
The Mendez family has filed a civil suit against Veteran’s Memorial Medical Center (VMMC) ophthalmology department chief Dr. Francisco Cruz, his wife Myrna, and their son Miguel Francisco. The family is asking for P8 million in moral and exemplary damages.
The cases against the Cruz family stemmed from investigation reports that said before Mendez was brought to the VMMC, where he was declared dead on arrival, he was first taken to the Cruzes’ home in Project 8.
The case is pending at the Quezon City regional trial court branch 226.
The case against the doctor in the Professional Regulatory Commission (PRC) is set for trial in November.
Asked about the UP student disciplinary tribunal (SDT) hearings, Cristy said she was told the proceedings were confidential and even the family of the victim was not allowed to attend.
But Cristy said she was thankful the UP Diliman community had not forgotten her son and was angry the perpetrators remained in hiding.
The Mendez family lawyer, Joselito Oliveros, told the Inquirer that all the police and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) had, at the moment, was circumstantial evidence.
He said they needed a witness to identify all the participants in the hazing for the investigation to proceed.
Said Oliveros: “It is difficult to fight influential people. It’s like the Mendez family is battling giants.”
Investigators of the Quezon City Police District Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit (QCPD-CIDU) told the Inquirer that witnesses who had presented themselves earlier no longer wanted to testify.
At least 15 UP students and fraternity members have been investigated by the QCPD-CIDU in connection with the incident.
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