Quezon City, Metro Manila

SIXTEENTH CONGRESS
Second Regular Session

HOUSE BILL no,_4714

24 dt 29
Republic of the Philippines 2 g, Ay
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Wi y

Introduced by Hon. Sherwin T. Gatchalian

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Republic Act (RA) No. 8049, more commonly known as “The Anti-Hazing
Law,” has not been effective in stopping fraternities, sororities, and other
organizations from hazing their neophytes. Since RA 8049 was enacted in
1995, several neophytes attempting to join fraternities, sororities, or
organizations in various schools have incurred injuries or died during
dangerous and unregulated initiation rites. Justice for hazing victims over the
last decade such as Marlon Villanueva, Chester Paulo Abracias, Cris Mendez,
Menardo Clamucha, Jr., EJ Karl Intia, Noel Borja, Nor Silongan, Mare Andrei
Marcos, John Mark Dugan, Marvin Reglos and others has been hard to come
by. Often, families have no choice but to settle with the accused perpetrators or
else face long years of expensive court battles. Justice for victims of non-fatal
hazing is even harder to come by, due to underreporting and the lack of media
coverage. Even publicized cases, like the recent hazing of an anonymous
Polytechnic University of the Philippines student at the hands of her ROTC
officers, result in administrative sanctions rather than criminal charges.

In order to stop hazing, it must be recognized by the law for what it is - a
barbaric criminal act that compromises the integrity of any organization that
employs it as a means of initiation. According to its formal title, RA 8049
merely seeks to regulate hazing when it should ban it outright. Anything less
than the express prohibition and criminalization of hazing is not enough.

At the same time, however, any quest for justice that treats justice as an
end rather than a means becomes a petty quest for vengeance rather than a
vehicle for reform. Along with more stringent provisions against hazing and
other initiation-related violations it is necessary to give these organizations a
chance to cure the cancers that have entered their culture. Allowing these

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organizations to come out of the shadows and become formally recognized by
the institutions that house them will empower and compel both the
organizations and the institutions to exercise greater accountability and
transparency in their actions

‘Thus, this legislation seeks to prohibit hazing once and for all while
further mandating the registration of all organizations with their host
institutions to allow for more efficient and effective enforcement of the
provisions of this Act. It is my sincere hope that this legislation will be the first
step towards creating a peaceful and productive culture for fraternities,
sororities, and organizations, guaranteeing that anyone who violates the
human rights of a neophyte will be swiftly punished.

We must ensure that no more aspiring and purposeful young people will
meet a tragic and senseless end through hazing. Let the memory of Guillo
Cesar Servando not be in vain.

In view of the foregoing, support for the passage and approval of this
legislation is earnestly sought.

iStrict, Valenzuela City


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City, Metro Manila

SIXTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

4714

HOUSE BILL NO..

Introduced by Hon. Sherwin T. Gatchalian

AN ACT
PROHIBITING HAZING AND REGULATING OTHER FORMS OF INITIATION
RITES OF FRATERNITIES, SORORITIES, AND OTHER ORGANIZATIONS,
AND PROVIDING PENALTIES FOR VIOLATION THEREOF, REPEALING FOR
THE PURPOSE REPUBLIC ACT NO. 8049

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
Philippines in Congress assembled:

SECTION 1. Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the “Servando

Act.”

SEC. 2. Prohibition on Hazing. - Any physical or psychological
suffering, harm or injury inflicted on a recruit, neophyte or applicant as a form
of an initiation rite or practice made as a prerequisite for admission into
membership in a fraternity, sorority or organization shall be considered as
hazing and is hereby prohibited. Hazing shall also include any activity,
intentionally made or otherwise, by one person alone or acting with others, that

humiliates or embarrasses, degrades, abuses or endangers by requiring a


recruit, neophyte or applicant to do menial, silly, or foolish tasks. Hazing shall

be prohibited at whatever stage of the initiation rites or practice.

The physical, mental and psychological testing and training procedures
and practices to determine and enhance the physical, mental and psychological
fitness of prospective regular members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines
and the Philippine National Police as approved by the Secretary of National
Defense and the National Police Commission duly recommended by the Chief of
Staff, Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Director General of the
Philippine National Police shall not be considered as hazing for purposes of this
Act: Provided, That all unauthorized physical, mental and psychological testing
and training procedures and practices conducted by the military and police
personnel resulting in physical or psychological suffering, harm or injury to
prospective regular members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the
Philippine National Police shall constitute hazing and are subject to the

provisions of this Act.

Fraternities, sororities, and organizations not based in schools are

likewise covered by the prohibition under this Section.

As used in this Act, the term “school” shall include high schools,
colleges, universities, and all other educational institutions, while the term
“organization” shall include any club or the Armed Forces of the Philippines,
Philippine National Police, Philippine Military Academy, or officer and cadet

corps of the Citizens’ Military Training and Citizens’ Army Training.


SEC. 3. Regulation of Initiation Rites. — Only initiation rites or
practices which do not inflict direct or indirect physical or psychological
suffering, harm or injury to the recruit, neophyte, or applicant of a fraternity,
sorority or organization shall be allowed: Provided, That a written application to
conduct the same shall be made to the proper authorities of the school not
later than seven (7) days prior to the scheduled initiation date: Provided,
further, That the written application shall indicate the place and date of the
initiation rites and the names of the recruits, neophytes or applicants to be
initiated: Provided, finally, That the initiation rites shall not last more than

three (3) days.

The appropriate authorities of the school shall have the right to approve
or disapprove the application, and the reasons thereof shall be stated clearly
and in unequivocal terms in a formal advice to the fraternity, sorority or
organization concerned. Guidelines for the approval or denial of the application
to conduct initiation rites by a registered fraternity, sorority or organization
shall be promulgated by the appropriate school officials not later than sixty (60)

days after the approval of this Act.

School officials shall have the authority to impose, after due notice and
summary hearing, disciplinary sanctions to the head and all other officers of
the fraternity, sorority, or organization which conducts an initiation without
first securing the necessary approval of the school as required under this

Section, All members of the fraternity, sorority or organization, who


participated in the unauthorized initiation rites, even if no hazing was

conducted, shall also be punished accordingly.

In case the written application for the conduct of initiation rites contains
false or inaccurate information, appropriate disciplinary sanctions shall be
imposed, after due notice and summary hearing, against the person who
prepared the application or supplied the false and inaccurate information and
to the head and other officers of the fraternity, sorority, or organization

concerned.

SEC. 4. Monitoring of Initiation Rites. - The head of the school or an
authorized representative must assign at least two (2) representatives of the
school to be present during the initiation. It is the duty of the school
representatives to see to it that no hazing is conducted during the initiation
rites, The representatives of the school who were present during the initiation
shall make a report to the appropriate officials of the school regarding the

conduct of the initiation.

SEC. 5. Nullity of Waiver and Consent. — Any form of approval,
consent or agreement, whether written or otherwise, or of an express waiver of
the right to object to the initiation rite or proceeding made by a recruit,
neophyte or applicant prior to an initiation rite that involves inflicting physical
or psychological suffering, harm or injury shall be void and without any

binding effect on the parties.


The defense that the recruit, neophyte or applicant consented to being

subjected to hazing shall not be available to persons prosecuted under this Act.

SEC, 6. Registration of Fraternities, Sororities, and Other
Organizations. - All existing fraternities, sororities, and organizations shall
register with the proper authorities of the school where the fraternity, sorority,

or organization is based.

A newly established fraternity, sorority, or organization in a school shall
immediately register with the proper authorities of the school during the
semester or trimester in which it was established or organized: Provided, That
the new fraternity, sorority, or organization has complied with the
requirements prescribed by the school in establishing a fraternity, sorority, or
organization: Provided, further, That schools shall promulgate their guidelines
in the registration of fraternities, sororities, and organizations within their

jurisdiction not later than sixty (60) days from the approval of this Act.

Upon registration, all fraternities, sororities, and organizations shall
submit a comprehensive list of members, which shall be updated not later than
thirty (30) days from the start of every semester or trimester, depending on the

academic calendar of the school.

School officials shall have the authority to impose, after due notice and
summary hearings, disciplinary penalties to the head and other officers of the
fraternity, sorority, or organization who fails to register or update their roster of

members as required under this Section.


SEC. 7. Faculty Adviser. - All fraternities, sororities, and organizations
must be assigned a faculty adviser responsible for monitoring the activities of
the fraternity, sorority, or organization. The faculty adviser must be a duly
recognized active member, in good standing, of the faculty at the school in

which the fraternity, sorority, or organization is registered.

SEC. 8. Role of Educational Institutions. ~ Schools shall implement an
information dissemination campaign at the start of every semester or trimester

to provide adequate information to students regarding the consequences of

conducting and participating in hazing.

Schools shall provide students with in-school programs to help them
cope with the pressure and anxiety brought about by academic demands. An
orientation program relating to membership in a fraternity, sorority, or
organization shall also be conducted by schools at the start of every semester

or trimester.

Schools shall encourage fraternities, sororities, and organizations to
engage in undertakings that foster holistic personal growth and development

and activities that contribute to solving relevant and pressing issues of society.

SEC. 9. Role of Commission on Higher Education and Department of
Education. - The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) shall, in
consultation with the Department of Education (DepED) and the various school

officials and other stakeholders, promulgate guidelines to define specific


prohibited acts which shall constitute hazing in accordance with the definition

provided under Section 1 of this Act.

The CHED and DepEd shall also monitor the compliance of schools to

Section 8 of this Act.

SEC. 10. Administrative Sanctions. - The responsible officials of the
school or of the police or military may impose the appropriate administrative
sanctions, after due notice and summary hearing, on the person or the persons

charged under this Act even before their conviction.
SEC. 11. Penalties and Liability of Those Involved in Hazing. -
a) The following penalties shall be imposed:

1) The penalty of rectusion temporal and a fine of one million pesos
(P1,000,000.000) shall be imposed upon the officers and the participating

members of the fraternity, sorority or organization involved in the hazing.

2) The penalty of reclusion perpetua and a fine of two million pesos
(P2,000,000.00) shall be imposed upon the members of the fraternity, sorority
or organization who were intoxicated or under the influence of alcohol or illegal

drugs when they actually participated in the hazing.

‘The same penalty shall be imposed upon the non-resident or alumni
members of the fraternity, sorority or organization who actually participated in

the hazing.


3) The penalty of reclusion perpetua and a fine of three million pesos
(P3,000,000.00) shall be imposed upon those who actually participated in the
hazing if, as a consequence of the hazing, death, rape, sodomy or mutilation

results therefrom;

5) A fine of one million pesos (P1,000,000.00) shall be imposed on the
school if the fraternity, sorority or organization filed a written application to
conduct an initiation which was subsequently approved by the school and
hazing occurred during the initiation rites or when no representatives from the
school were present during the initiation as provided under Section 4 of this

Act.

b) The owner of the place where hazing is conducted shall be liable as a
principal when he has actual knowledge of the hazing conducted therein but
failed to take any action to prevent the same from occurring or failed to
promptly report the same to the law enforcement authorities if he can do so
without peril to himself or his family. If the hazing is held in the home of one of
the officers or members of the fraternity, sorority, or organization, the parents
shall be held liable as principals when they have actual knowledge of the
hazing conducted therein but failed to take any action to prevent the same
from occurring or failed to promptly report the same to the law enforcement

authorities if he can do so without peril to himself or his family.

¢) The school authorities inchiding faculty members who consent to the

hazing or who have actual knowledge thereof, but failed to take any action to


prevent the same from occurring or failed to promptly report the same to the
law enforcement authorities if he can do so without peril to himself or his
family shall be punished as accomplices for the acts of hazing committed by

the perpetrators.

d) The officers, former officers, or alumni of the fraternity, sorority, or
organization who actually planned the hazing although not present when the
acts constituting the hazing were committed shall be liable as principals. A
fraternity, sorority or organization's faculty adviser who is present when the
acts constituting the hazing were committed and failed to take action to
prevent the same from occurring or failed to promptly report the same to the
law enforcement authorities if he can do so without peril to himself or his

family shall be liable as principal.

¢) The presence of any person during the hazing is prima facie evidence of
participation therein as principal unless he prevented the commission of the
acts punishable herein or promptly reported the same to the law enforcement

authorities if he can do so without peril to himself or his family.

f) The officers and alumni of the fraternity, sorority or organization
concerned shall be jointly liable with those members who actually participated
in the hazing. The prima facie presumption that arises herein shall be rebutted

only by the individual defense of desistance and renunciation by the accused.


g) Any person charged under this Act shall not be entitled to the
mitigating circumstance that there was no intention to commit so grave a

wrong.

h) This Section shall apply to the president, manager, director or other
responsible officer of a corporation engaged in hazing as a requirement for

employment in the manner provided herein.

i) Any judgment of final conviction shall be reflected in the scholastic
record, personal or employment record of the person convicted, regardless of

when the conviction is arrived at.

SEC. 12. Separability Clause. ~ If any provision or part of this Act is
declared invalid or unconstitutional, the remaining parts or provisions not

affected thereby shall remain in full force and effect.

SEC. 13, Repealing Clause. - Republic Act No. 8049 is hereby repealed.
All other laws, decreed, executive orders, proclamations, rules and regulations,
or parts thereof inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby

amended, repealed or modified accordingly.

SEC. 14, Effectivity Clause. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days
after its publication in the Official Gazette or in any newspaper of general

circulation.

Approved,