During his last moments, Horacio “Atio” Castillo III was being reminded of the “purpose” he was seeking when he joined Aegis Jvris, recalled a frat man present during the hazing rites.
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Speaking before a Senate inquiry into Atio’s death today, Marc Ventura said he kept on reminding Castillo about this purpose as the neophyte was visibly exhausted after being punched repeatedly in the arms and then paddled below the buttocks.
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“His condition, he was tired — exhausted, but he was responsive. I told him he could go through the process of that evening. I kept on reminding him what he told me. What he was looking for was purpose,” Ventura said in Filipino.
He said he had been talking to Castillo at the fraternity library before the initiation rites began, and the neophyte kept telling him about the purpose in life he is seeking.
“Every time we talk, my constant reminder to him, it doesn’t come from us. it can only come from him,” he added.
Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II, quoting Ventura’s affidavit, earlier said Aegis Jvris members repeatedly punched Castillo, hit him with a spatula, and struck him with a paddle.
“They have a saying: Until his arm isn’t yet swollen, keep on hitting,” said Aguirre, adding that Ventura identified “many” of those who participated.
Then when Castillo’s arms were already swollen, they were hit with a spatula to “calm” the muscles, he said.
The last step, Ventura had claimed, was paddling. An incoming member was supposed to be hit 10 times with the paddle, but a leader or a solo newbie (someone who was entering the fraternity alone) would receive 11 strikes.
“The third paddle against Atio, they asked him if he could still take it. Atio answered that he could. But in the fourth paddle, he couldn’t take it anymore and collapsed already and his response was unintelligible; when they asked him again, he was just moaning,” said Aguirre.
The frat man, who has been provisionally admitted to the witness protection program, refused to divulge specific details of his affidavit due to confidentiality, as advised by his counsel.
Ventura is now being represented by a lawyer who is also his relative. The frat man said he replaced his former lawyers, who are Aegis Jvris members, so he will be more comfortable in telling the truth.
