Brotherhood of fools

FRATERNITIES are once again in the national consciousness following the death of a “neophyte” after he was hazed to death by his “masters”. What drives people to go to great lengths to become sadists and masochists? Is it because they would then be bonded for life—for better or worse? Or is it for campus security—as a fraternity member may not be harmed by any other regular individual? Or is it simply for social status and the need to belong?

Normal human beings do have a burning need to belong. But one can achieve this by befriending other individuals. And if this friendship is properly cultivated, friends may become bonded for life—or what we now call BFF (best friends forever). As for campus security, one does need any unless one has mischief and campus domination in mind.

Fraternities are supposed to be all about brotherhood. But when brother paddles a wannabe brother to near death, it is nothing short of stupidity. Will one become a real brother after one beats the hell out of him? Some initiates are sturdy enough to take the beatings; others are more fragile and they are really unaware that they cannot take physical punishment until they experience it. Sadly, this would turn out to be the last experience they would have as they pass on to the next world.

Hazing has been outlawed by Republic Act 8049. However as in any other Philippine law, it is more of an exception rather than the rule. Hazing continued after the law’s enactment and it continues to this day. Law enforcers are often caught flatfooted and they are more geared towards being reactionary than being proactive. It is definitely impossible for law enforcers to discover hazing activities and as it is they should be more focused on preventing this. But then again this would also be next to impossible.

So how to prevent more hazing deaths in the future? Outlawing all fraternities would be nice but this infringes on our basic freedom. The best way is to outlaw fraternities that have records of hazing deaths. The eminent Sen. Jovito Salonga resigned from his fraternity after it got involved in a hazing death. But again, Sen. Salonga is the exception rather than the rule and other prominent officials that belong to the fraternity have not followed his lead. And as such, it drives home the point that fraternities that practice hazing to allow entry of new members which is supposed to be about loyalty, camaraderie and dedication to intellectual, physical, moral and social development is really nothing much but a brotherhood of fools.