The Quezon City Regional Trial Court (QCRTC) dismissed the petition of a Sigma Rho fraternity member to temporarily halt the university hearings on the death of hazing victim Cris Anthony Mendez.

In a four-page decision penned by Judge Jose Paneda of QCRTC Branch 220, the court refused to issue a preliminary injunction on the ongoing hearings of the Student Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) and a temporary restraining order (TRO) against several UP administration officials, including President Emerlinda Roman, UP Diliman Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Elizabeth Enriquez and SDT Chair Atty. Jonathan Sale.

Juan Paolo Fajardo, an SR member and senior law student, asked for the issuance of a TRO and an injunction until the trial court has finally decided on his petition for prohibition of the hearing. Fajardo appealed before the court to stop any hearings of the SDT, arguing that the formal charges against him are “absolutely untrue and feloniously falsified.”

Fourteen charged SR members, including Fajardo, allegedly violated the rules on hazing and misconduct, as stated in the Revised Rules Governing Fraternities, Sororities and Other Student Organizations. According to the rules, fraternity members found guilty would face one-year suspension to expulsion.

Fajardo was charged over his alleged participation in initiation rites, violations of pertinent rules, and for his failure to shed light on Mendez’s death when he brought the victim’s dead body to the Veterans’ Memorial Medical Center.

In his petition filed at the QCRTC on October 22, Fajardo pointed that “he stands to suffer grave, irreparable damage and injury when the acts complained of are not enjoined, because he is being prevented from completing his law course.” He also requested that a TRO be issued to restrain the respondents from contuining the ongoing SDT hearings so as “to prevent greater damage” to him and other SR members.

Judge Paneda said in his decision dated November 16 that Fajardo failed to show that he is being suspended and thus prevented from completing his law course, as he is enrolled this semester.

Fajardo, however, declined to issue any statement, saying it is up for the courts to decide on his remaining petition for prohibition of the SDT hearing. The QCRTC will hear the petition on December 13.

Mendez, a graduating public administration student, died on August 27 after undergoing intiation rites with SR .

No preliminary inquiry
Fajardo claimed that the premature filing of the formal charges against him and other SR members violated their right to due process, according to the petition. He further said that he was never notified of or had participated in any “preliminary inquiry” on the death of Mendez.

However, the UP administration contended that the SDT conducted the requisite preliminary inquiry on September 4 and 12 where the tribunal found grounds to charge the 14 SR members and pursue the formal hearings.

It further argued that the fact that “the petitioner was not given notice of the inquiry is not material [since] inquiry is conducted ex-parte” to ensure that students who are charged are not exposed to any unnecessary harassment.

Section 8 of the Rules and Regulations on Student Conduct and Discipline states that in every case, the parents or guardians of the students charged shall be furnished with a copy of the complaints.

Appeal to Roman
Meanwhile, Enriquez revealed that senior public administration Juan Paolo Ante, who went on absence without leave this semester, appealed to Roman at the time he also filed a petition with the QCRTC to lift his suspension as the chair of the National College of Public and Governance (NCPAG) Student Council.

Roman said that Ante also appealed to reconsider the one-year suspension ordered by the SDT over his involvement in a separate fraternity rumble in July last year. The SDT affirmed that the enrolment of Ante in the first semester was “for residency purposes” only and that the subjects he took were rendered null and void.

Ante allegedly recruited Mendez, an NCPAG councilor, to the implicated fraternity.

The QCRTC, meanwhile, denied Ante’s petition pointing that he failed to exhaust all remedies within the university.

<< back to main

# Philippine Collegian