anti hazing law essay philippines

SECTION 1. A new section to be denominated as Section 1 is hereby inserted in Republic Act No. 8049, to read as follows:

"SECTION 1. Short Title. — This Act shall be known as the "Anti-Hazing Act of 2018."

SECTION 2. Section 1 of the same Act is hereby amended to read as follows:

"SEC. 2. Definition of Terms. — As used in this Act:

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Home ⇛ ue research bulletin ⇛ vol. 17 no. 1 (2015), anti-hazing law of the philippines: an evaluative study on its implementation and adequacy.

Edison James F. Pagalilauan

This study sought to examine the Anti-Hazing Law of the Philippines (RA8049), its sufficiency and implementation, as well as to explain why fraternity continues, with majority of the officers going unpunished. Since the Anti-Hazing Bill became a law, many published and unpublished hazing cases have occurred. Many neophytes have died, but many cases did not even pass through the preliminary investigation proceedings. Some cases were dismissed by prosecutors outright. Separate questionnaires were used to gather the opinions of a lawyer, a law dean and a law student, who are all members of different fraternities. A review of the present status of the cases involving the hazing victims revealed that there is an improper implementation of the Anti-Hazing law.

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Revisiting the Anti-Hazing Law in Selected Higher Education Institutions in Nueva Ecija, Philippines: A Policy Review

Hazing is a serious social problem. It wasted not only the lives of future and promising leaders of society but also their aspirations for their families. The study is an evaluation of the implementation of the Anti-Hazing Law. 80 Student Organization Members and Officers (SOMO) and 20 Student Affairs Professionals (SAP) from four (4) universities in Nueva Ecija, Philippines are interviewed. From the point of view of the respondents, five (5) variables related to the implementation of the anti-hazing law are measured using measure of central tendency and percentile ranking. They are: a) monitoring of organizational meeting; b) monitoring of student organization activities; c) accreditation and recognition of student organizations; d) university initiative on resolving organizational conflicts and e) involvement of alumni and parents in student organizations program for development. The findings showed that SOMO and SAP rated sometimes in the first variable and often on the second and third variables; sometimes on the last two variables. Both the SOMO and SAP exhibited " awareness " on the anti-hazing law. In view of the findings of the study, a clear and comprehensive anti-hazing prevention policy and education campaign among SOMO is recommended.

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The evolution of law started from human practice and activities. Many State laws are once part of society's living tradition ripened into a rule of conduct in the form of statute. The study argued that hazing is a tradition within student organizations. The implementation of the Anti-Hazing Law (RA8049) in the Philippines cannot fully stop this activity. Using the lens of 160 Sophomore student leaders, the study measured students' awareness on the existence of Republic Act 8049 also known as the Anti-Hazing Law. The study found that Majority of the Sophomore Engineering students: a) Possessed above average level of awareness on the nature of hazing as defined under RA 8049; b) " awareness " on the procedural requirements of RA 8049; and c) above average " awareness " on the liabilities imposed by law. The study concluded that despite knowledge of the law on anti hazing, the problem remains. The respon-dents' regard to initiation ritual as part of organizational tradition makes the practice of hazing difficult to combat. A Comprehensive Anti-Hazing campaign guided by the principle of restorative justice to promote organizational learning is recommended.

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Not a year goes by that we don’t hear of another hazing scandal in a higher education institution. Many researchers took interest in this issue in order to understand its causes and consequences. They provided definitions and lead to prevent it. We found hazing in many social groups around the world, with different names, and under specific forms. This paper aims to better understand hazing and its actors, with a specific focus on hazing in higher education. We presented three definitions to offer several perspectives on hazing, and facilitate its apprehension. Our method was to analyze the relevant scientific literature with the intention of reflecting on its roots and representation among individuals. Results are an exposition of motivations from hazing's actors, recommendations about how to define it and how to prevent derivations. Our main conclusions assume hazing is usually depicted as a deviant behavior, but it would appear to be a norm. Also, its core purpose would be the progression from newcomer to a group member. A lack of structure or meaning could lead to its misuse and facilitate outrageous events. In higher education, hazing seems to be used as a tool to integrate freshmen in their new institutional world. Scandals including violence, sexual and alcohol abuse could be a symptom of something deeper from hazing's environment.

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Hazing practices in higher education institutions are perceived controversially. This study looked at the perception towards hazing practices of students from the University of the Azores in first cycle (n=247). It analyses if their perception was positive, emphasizing the integrative aspects of hazing practices, or if it was negative, inclining to define those practises like being violent and humiliating. The applied questionnaire measures 3 factors to define individual’s perception with hazing practices (positive relation with hazing practices, negative relation and the social dimension of the practices). This study used descriptive analyses to observe the level of agreement with hazing practices and non-parametrical statistical test to analyse the relationship between their levels of agreement with hazing practices and socio-demographic variables. Results emphasised balanced proportion of students perceiving positively and negatively those practices and incline to define hazing practices with the same components in both perceptions. It didnot highlight a strong mandatory integrative component in students’ perception. Also, results stressed a large part of students disinterested in hazing practices. Additionally factors of hazing practices’ perception showed significant relationships with respondent’s sex, age and academic degree. Hazing practices in this study did not seem to meet their main objectives of welcoming and integrating freshmen in higher education institutions.

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This study aims to understand the kind of relationship that students from two Portuguese higher education institutions – the Portalegre School of Health Sciences (ESSP) and the University of the Azores (UAC) – have with hazing and whether there are profiles of students associated with different types of relationship with hazing. Data were collected through the scale ‘Evaluation of Bullying Situations in Higher Education Hazing’. The findings obtained using appropriate statistical techniques, exhibit significant differences between the ESSP and the UAC, with students from the ESSP displaying a better relationship with hazing. They also showcase appreciable differences in the relationship with hazing between the ESSP and the UAC depending on personal, academic and behavioral variables. The findings finally indicate that, at each institution, the profile of students who express a better relationship with hazing differs from those who distance themselves from this ritual in terms of per...

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Studies about bullying, mostly diffused from Olweus' studies since the 1970s, have been, in the most part, focused on non-higher education. However, problems between higher education students have started to arise in Portugal, some of which seem to be associated to hazing practices. Due to this new challenge within higher education, some studies that aim to develop instruments to assess situations of aggression and intimidation on this level of education have started to be performed (e.g. Sabino, Jesus, Simões & Nave; 2009; Silva, 2013), while others try to disclose the role of hazing practices (Vieira, 2013) in students' lives. This research aims to contribute to the demand placed by this new challenge in higher education. More specifically, it focuses on how students from a Portuguese higher education institution perceive hazing practices and bullying situations in hazing practices, while putting in perspective implications on academic performance. Data was collected through the scale in "Avaliação das Situações de Bullying nas Praxes do Ensino Superior" (Evaluation of Situations of Bullying in Hazing Practices in Higher Education), a 15-item scale divided in three dimensions: 1) Positive relation with the hazing practices; 2) Negative relation with the hazing practices and 3) Social dimension (Jesus, Matos, Nave & Simões, 2010). 247 students of both sexes, aged 18 to 43 and from different grade levels, courses and departments have taken part in this study. The results, using non-parametric techniques, confirm significant differences in "Positive relation with the hazing practices" between males and females (p=.001< α=.05) and among age groups ("20 years old or less" and "more than 20 years old"; p=.024< α=.05). Furthermore, they allow us to observe significant differences between the students' grade levels (1st, 2nd or 3rd year) taking into account the “Positive relation with the hazing practices” (p=.04< α=.05) and the "Social dimension" (p=.017< α=.05). Besides, significant differences have been noted between the departments where students belong regarding "Positive relation with the hazing practices" (p=.02< α=.05) and “Negative relation with the hazing practices” (p=.02< α=.05). The correlations between the utilized subscales ("Positive relation with the hazing practices", "Negative relation with the hazing practices" and "Social dimension") are statistically significant, taking in consideration the significance levels of 1% (respectively p=.02; p=.00 and p=.00).

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For that fraternity, men and women are willing to suffer through the hazing rituals of physical and psychological abuse, sometimes a combination of extreme and heavy doses of both -- being smeared with feces or urinated on, drinking concoctions of bodily discharges, suffering torrents of degrading insults, demeaning sexual acts and nudity, or various acts and varying degrees of physical violence. They are meant to humble the pledges, and from that humbling, they imagine, springs bonding, love, and trust.

The consequences of psychological abuse are often hidden. But sometimes, after the hazing, beneath the seeming normalcy, there is a lifetime of psychological scars or wounds that never heal.

For physical abuse, the marks are often visible, usually inflicted by the most common form of abuse in the tradition of hazing -- paddling. it's much worse than it sounds, and it's much more than a paddle. It has become the generic word for any instrument that inflicts corporeal punishment: paddle boards, canes, baseball bats. The damage is often inflicted with brutality, almost always, causing the body to " ube " -- the vernacular for the early violet of bloody ecchymotic bruising. Often, the extent of subcutaneous bleeding, the hematomas and ecchymoses -- the ube -- is the arithmetic equivalence of the degree of brutality. The ability to endure the brutality is considered a measure of mettle, resolve, and worthiness.

Often, the violence is meted out with measures of restraint. But one too many times, it is dispensed with savage and unrestrained brutality, with pledges beaten to a pulp. And sometimes, in the name of fraternity, death occurs.

The deaths are not accidents In between deaths, the hazing continues as the fraternity's rite of passage, outside the range of media attention, the non-fatal hospitalizations becoming ho-hum incidents. It is the occasional death that brings hazing's brutality and senselessness to the forefront, with its short-lived torrent of outrage, a rain of media sound bites, and the emollient doses of press releases from schools with generic statements of condolence and condemnation. While the parents grieve, seeking answers and seeking justice. While the guilty flee and scurry for cover, behind the shroud of silence and secrecy. While the wheels of justice, too often hampered by who-you-know and areglo politics, moves so slowly, sometimes looks the other way. Waiting for the senseless death to slowly recede from public outrage, front pages and editorials. . . until the next death.

The deaths are no accidents. They are just deaths waiting to happen. Deaths are the result of cumulative trauma. There is no way to determine the sustainable amount of physical violence beyond which a line is crossed. It is even possible the cause of death may have been inflicted early on in the ritual of hazing, taking days for the process of its pathology to progress to death.

What is surprising is that there aren't more of these tragic events. How many deaths are unreported? How many more deaths were a whack of paddle or dose of torture away? The human body's fragile armor is a mere composite of delicate tissues of skin, subcutaneous fat, muscle and nerves, prone to tears and bleeding, surviving through innate reflexes -- withdrawal, shielding, parrying, cringing, flinching, flight and avoidance. This fragility, long ago recognized by science and medicine, spawned an industry that fashioned protective gear for contact sports and various professions, to protect every part of the human body with helmets, pads, goggles, guards, vests, and shields, with medical personnel ready to sideline anyone with a bleed, cut, sprain or concussion. In hazing, which takes in more violence than any contact spor, there is no such protective gear.

Also, there may be unrecognized contributing conditions that critically increases this fragility: aspirin intake, bleeding and clotting disorders. And in the bloodsport of hazing, the survival instincts and reflexes are not functional. The human body becomes a stationary mass of unprotected tissues, absorbing the infliction of repeated blunt trauma, each strike contributing to the cumulative physical damage -- the subcutaneous bleeding, the widening ube , sometimes, hemorrhagic shock, coma, and the occasional death. (How many times has the ube , the post-traumatic ecchymotic swelling in the legs, been source of deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism and death?) And sadly, too often, the body succumbs before the resolve yields. And often, when death occurs, it is not sudden. The dying is slow. Life already seeping away as the strikes continue. There is not one fatal blow. The fatal blow is cumulative . . . and communal. Life was slipping away, bleeding away, long before the final blow.

Whence, the brutality? This is not the initiation of street or prison gangs, where excessive violence is generic and deaths are meted with dispassion. This is the violence of hazing inflicted upon pledges with bodies unfamiliar with the extremes of physical abuse, walking wide-eyed into a gauntlet of hazing rituals, suffering the blows, risking life while hoping for the grail of acceptance and cause of fraternity.

Of course, not all involved in hazing are violently inclined. Perhaps, many are nonviolent in their day-to-day lives. Yet many, not disposed to violence, in the company and peer pressure of brothers become hesitant participants, contributing small doses of violence; or sometimes even with the seemingly gentle, with the outflowing and surging of adrenaline and testosterone, a line is crossed, the ritual goes haywire, the hazing becomes an occasion of wilding and sadism.

Some would like to believe that the violence is simply a get-back from brothers still feeling the pains of last year's initiation rites, the ube long gone but the memory of it still stinging, and now keyed up to be on the giving end.  

Perhaps, for a few. But for many, it's likely much more than that. Among the initiating brothers, there might be one, two, or a few possessed of violent nature, inflicting pain with great delight, amusement and laughter. Perhaps there's even a sociopath or two hiding behind the mask of academe. Perhaps, these brothers were themselves bullied upon or were victims of childhood physical abuse, now finding a subconscious mode of release and transference. In my medical practice, patients, both victims and perpetrators, have confessed to me of domestic abuse, how difficult it is, once it starts, to stop the horrible escalation of violence. Why would it be different In the rituals of initiation, in the setting of helpless pledges, with brothers, many stewed with alcohol, armed with clenched fists, paddles, sticks, pipes and canes? Who are swinging their bats in the name of brotherhood? Who are swinging from the scars of childhood abuse? Who are striking in anger, revenge, jealousy, retribution, redemption, or simply, for that feeling of macho-ness as they inflict punishment? Dahil sa ingit, galit, bawi, o tupak? Hazing is a match that provides spark to a cauldron of human dysfunctions.

To boot, we have become a more violent society. We live in a chilling new paradigm of violence. There has been a resetting of our thresholds for evil and violence, a shift in the Jekyl and Hyde of our personalities. There is always blame to cast on movies and television satiating our swollen appetites with excessive doses of graphic violence. The past decades have brought us wilding, road rage, Columbine, gone-postal incidents, waterboarding, new ways of tortures, and massacres in far-flung corners of the world -- daily doses and daily fares in the immediacy of television that inundate the visuals of our daily lives. The images no longer shock. We have become desensitized, hopelessly inured to violence.

In hazing, this culture of violence is allowed expression, testing the limits of endurance, taking lives to the edge, a few strikes away from the threshold of dying. A blood clot in the leg. Blood loss. An errant heart beat. Sometimes, strike after strike after strike, in sheer exhaustion or when the limit is reached, the body shuts down. The death is often the result of cumulative trauma. For every death, there are many who were so close to their deaths, surviving by the skin of one's teeth. In hazing's venue of violence, the occasional death—when it occurs—is not accidental, but, rather, predictable, that sooner or later, the occasion of a death will be an inevitable outcome.

How many deaths were a whack of paddle or dose of torture away?

Fraternities need not be banned. Every time a death occurs, part of the hue-and-cry is to ban, dissolve, or prohibit fraternities, and the question inevitably raised: Do fraternities have a place in society? Outlawing fraternities will do nothing but drive them underground. Besides, fraternities provide for various human needs -- a surrogate family, a place for young men and women to forge friendships, bonding, and trust, a milieu of kindred spirits, a place to experience community. It is the hazing that is the unnecessary ritual, and the deaths from it so senseless.

Hazing wasn't part of the Greek and medieval origins of fraternities. Hazing took roots in that period of change when the ancient rituals and classic traditions of intellectual explorations and expressions were disappearing. Now, what remains in some (most?) fraternities are the Greek letters, symbols and crests, hedonistic extracurricular pursuits, and its annual ritual of hazing. And in a world inured to a culture of violence, hazing has morphed into more physical methods of initiation, increasingly violent, with deaths as occasional, predictable and inevitable outcomes.

Hazing is the fraternity's murderous thorn on its side. Many organizations, schools and universities have banned it, but to no avail. The deaths continue. In 1995, the anti-hazing law, Republic Act No. 8049, was approved by President F. Ramos. The law is impressively replete with definitions, liabilities and penalties -- reclusion perpetua, reclusion temporal, prison mayor, prison correcional. Yet, it has woefully failed to stop the beatings and deaths. And in the theater of the courts, the guilty have always managed to skillfully mitigate culpability through avenues of twisted legalese, loopholes, and appeals. It's a law that lacks teeth, rife with flaws. It allows hazing or initiation rites with ridiculous conditions that seem to not recognize the potential for violence: That prior notice is given seven (7) days before, that it must not exceed three (3) days, that no physical violence be employed, that two school or fraternity representatives be present.

And alcohol? It is ubiquitous in our celebratorygatherings. Certainly so, in initiation rituals. It shouldn't take much to imagine how much of the violence is fueled by alcohol. And despite the fact that 82% of deaths from violent hazing involve alcohol, the law makes absolutely no reference to alcohol.

Hazing is a blood sport, a ritual of power and control wielded with violence. The street gangs, cults and the underworld may never be rid of it, but schools and universities should be saved from it. The youth should be protected from the psychological and physical violence. It is inane and insane to expect that promulgation by law can regulate, supervise, and temper the violence. Hazing in all its forms should be punished with expulsion. Deaths should be dealt with for the heinous crime that it is, by a law with teeth, unencumbered by legal loopholes, politics, and brod-blood, utang ng loob , and quid pro quo and areglo  machinations.

Manslaughter Justice Secretary de Lima expressed puzzlement when Judge Perla Cabrera-Faller dismissed the charge for violation of the Anti-Hazing Law in the hazing death of San Beda law student Marc Andrei Marcos for "lack of probable cause and ample evidence." Of course, nothing followed her puzzlement. Incredulously, the judge exculpated: "No one is to be blamed for the death of Andrei Marcos… The court feels that it could suffer the flak of society, but it cannot in conscience consign all of the accused to the dust bin of history simply on the basis of the uncorroborated and incredible lone statement of Marcelo."

The history of hazing is littered with deaths . Despite the deaths and known risks, fraternities continue with their conspiratorial regimens of torture. Despite having been criminalized by Republic Act 8049 more than a decade ago, the deaths continue. Despite "zero-tolerance" edicts and sound bites, when hazing season comes around, schools and universities turn a blind eye, waiting for the next death—when it becomes the occasion for the usual public outcry, the predictable condemnation by school and university authorities and offerings of condolence and "unqualified grief" to the victim's families

Every hazing death clamors for justice. Hazing deaths qualify as manslaughter. At the least, involuntary manslaughter. But in the Andrei Marcos case, the judge found lack of probable cause and ample evidence! No one to be blamed! Guillo Servando's death awaits the ruling of justice; as the hue and cry recedes, while we hope the decision does not end up consigned to the same "dustbin of history."

Non-Violent Alternatives Hazing can be replaced by non-violent alternatives that measure the mettle, worth, and resolve of the pledges. For the able-bodied pledges, have them walk to Baguio, planting trees along the way. Spend their weekends and a whole stretch of summer in volunteer work. Take to the boondocks, like the teachers who walk their arduous miles and wade through rivers daily to reach small communities of children hungry to learn how to read and write. Provide community service to the countless riles communities. Clean the garbage and refuse that clog up the tributaries of the Pasig river. There are limitless opportunities waiting to be invented for a fraternal Peace Corps of pledges. And instead of the twisted glamor of initiation violence, let the pledges prove their worth and mettle with a new kind of macho-ness , through deeds that boast of sacrifice, social relevance, and doses of nobility. . . . and in the end, to redefine and return to the laudable possibilities of fraternity.

      List of hazing related deaths in the Philippines                                             1954-2020

Image sources • Photo Collage: (1) Ohio Law Protects Hazed Students (2) Youth tied to a post (3) Man tied to a chair (4) Youth tied and doused with water (5) Hazing (6) Hospital scene

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R.A. 11053: The Anti-Hazing Act of 2018 (FAQs)

• March 4, 2023 April 3, 2023

Table of Contents

Sec. 2. definition of terms..

The term “Hazing” refers to any act that results in physical or psychological suffering, harm, or injury inflicted on a recruit, neophyte, applicant, or member as part of an initiation rite or practice made as a prerequisite for admission or a requirement for continuing membership in a fraternity, sorority, or organization.

Some examples of hazing include paddling, whipping, beating, branding, forced calisthenics, exposure to the weather, forced consumption of any food, liquor, beverage, drug, or other substance, or any other brutal treatment or forced physical activity which is likely to adversely affect the physical and psychological health of such recruit, neophyte, applicant, or member.

Any activity, intentionally made or otherwise, by one person alone or acting with others, that tends to humiliate or embarrass, degrade, abuse, or endanger, by requiring a recruit, neophyte, applicant, or member to do menial, silly, or foolish tasks can also be considered hazing.

The term “Initiation or Initiation Rites” refers to ceremonies, practices, rituals, or other acts, weather formal or informal, that a person must perform or take part in order to be accepted into fraternity, sorority, organization as a full-fledged member. It includes ceremonies practices, rituals, and other acts in all stages of membership in a fraternity, sorority, or organization.

The term “Organization” refers to an organized body of people which includes, but is not limited to, any club, association, group, fraternity, and sorority. This term shall include the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), the Philippine National Police (PNP), the Philippine Military Academy (PMA), the Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA), and other similar uniformed service learning institutions.

The term “Schools” refers to colleges, universities, and other educational institutions.

Sec. 3. Prohibition on Hazing.

The prohibition on hazing applies to all forms of hazing in fraternities, sororities, and organizations in schools, including citizens’ military training and citizens’ army training. This prohibition also applies to all other fraternities, sororities, and organizations that are not school-based, such as community-based and other similar fraternities, sororities, and organizations.

Yes, the physical, mental, and practices to determine and enhance the physical, mental, and psychological fitness of prospective regular members of the AFP and the PNP as approved by the Secretary of National Defense and National Police Commission, duly recommended by the Chief of Staff of the AFP and Director General of the PNP, shall not be considered as hazing purposes of this Act.

The exemption provided herein shall likewise apply to similar procedures and practices approved by the respective heads of other uniformed learning institutions as to their prospective members.

Additionally, the provision shall not apply to any customary athletic events or other similar contests or competitions or any activity or conduct that furthers a legal and legitimate objective, subject to prior submission of a medical clearance or certificate.

No, in no case shall hazing be made a requirement for employment in any business or corporation.

Sec. 4. Regulation of School-Based Initiation Rites.

The fraternity or organization must submit a written application to the proper authorities of the school not later than seven (7) days prior to the scheduled initiation date.

The written application should indicate the place and date of the initiation rites, the names of the recruits, neophytes, or applicants to be initiated, and the manner by which they will conduct the initiation rites.

The initiation rites should not last more than three (3) days.

The application should also contain the names of the incumbent officers of the fraternity, sorority, or organization and any person or persons who will take charge in the conduct of the initiation rites.

The written application shall be posted in the official school bulletin board, the bulletin board of the office of the fraternity, sorority, or organization, and two (2) other conspicuous places in the school or in the premises of the organization. It should also be under oath and shall be posted from the time of submission of the written notice to the school authorities or head of organization, and shall only be removed from its posting three (3) days after the conduct of the initiation rites.

The appropriate school authorities shall have the obligation to disapprove the application to conduct initiation rites that do not conform with any of the requirements of this section.

School officials can impose disciplinary sanctions, which may include reprimand, suspension, exclusion, or expulsion, to the head and all other officers of the fraternity, sorority, and 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.

Appropriate disciplinary sanctions in accordance with the school’s guidelines and regulations on the matter ranging from reprimand to expulsion 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. 5. Monitoring of Initiation Rites.

The head of the school or an authorized representative is responsible for assigning at least two (2) representatives of the school to be present during initiation rites.

The school representatives must ensure that no hazing is conducted during the initiation rites and document the entire proceedings.

The representatives who were present during the initiation shall make a report of the initiation rites to the appropriate officials of the school regarding the conduct of the said initiation.

If hazing is still committed despite the presence of the school representatives, no liability shall attach to them unless it is proven that they failed to perform an overt act to prevent or stop the commission thereof.

Sec. 6. Registration of Fraternities, Sororities and Other Organizations.

All existing fraternities, sororities, and other organizations not created or organized by the school, but have existing members who are students or plan to recruit students to be its members, shall be required to register with proper school authorities before conducting activities, whether on or off-campus, including recruitment of members.

A newly established fraternity, sorority, or organization in a school shall immediately register with proper school authorities during the semester or trimester in which it was established or organized, provided that it has complied with the requirements prescribed by the school in establishing a fraternity, sorority, or organization.

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, or 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 in accordance with the school’s guidelines and regulations on the matter, including suspension to the head and other officers of the fraternity, sorority, or organization who fail to register or update their roster of members as required under this section.

Failure to comply with any of the requirements in this section shall result in the cancellation of the registration of the fraternity, sorority, or organization.

Sec. 7. Faculty Adviser.

Fraternities, sororities, or organizations are required to submit the name or names of their respective faculty adviser or advisers who must not be members of the respective fraternity, sorority, or organization. The submission shall also include a written acceptance or consent on the part of the selected faculty adviser or advisers.

The faculty advisers are responsible for monitoring the activities of the fraternity, sorority, or organization that is established or registered.

If any of the provisions of this Act are violated by a fraternity, sorority, or organization, it is presumed that the faculty adviser has knowledge and consented to the commission of any of the unlawful acts stated therein.

Sec. 8. Role of Educational Institutions.

The responsibility of schools is to exercise reasonable supervision in loco parentis over the conduct of its students.

The level of diligence expected of schools is that which prudent parents would employ in the same circumstances when discriminating and protecting their children.

It shall be the duty of schools to take more proactive steps to protect its students from the dangers of participating in activities that involve hazing.

Schools shall implement an information dissemination campaign at the start of every semester or trimester to provide adequate information to students and parents or guardians regarding the consequences of conducting and participating in hazing.

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. Registration of Community-Based and Other Similar Fraternities, Sororities, or Organizations.

They are required to register with the barangay, municipality, or city wherein they are primarily based.

All new and existing community-based fraternities, sororities, or organizations, including their respective local chapters, are required to register.

Upon registration, all community-based fraternities, sororities, or organizations including their respective local chapters shall submit a comprehensive list of members and officers.

The list of members and officers shall be updated yearly from the date of registration.

Sec. 10. Regulation of Initiation Rites for Community-Based Fraternities, Sororities, or Organizations.

Section 10 of the law regulates initiation rites for community-based fraternities, sororities, or organizations to ensure that only initiation rites or practices that do not constitute hazing shall be allowed.

According to Section 10, the punong barangay in the barangay or municipal or city mayor in the municipality or city where the community-based fraternity, sorority, or organization is based should be notified in writing of the intention to conduct initiation rites.

According to Section 10, the written application to conduct initiation rites should be made not later than seven (7) days prior to the scheduled initiation date.

According to Section 10, the written application to conduct initiation rites should indicate the place and date of the initiation rites and the names of the recruits, neophytes, or applicants to be initiated. The application shall also contain an undertaking that no harm of any kind shall be committed during the initiation rites.

According to Section 10, a medical certificate of the recruit, neophyte, or applicant must be attached to the application to ensure fitness to undergo initiation when it involves physical activity not falling under the definition of hazing as used in this Act.

According to Section 10, the initiation rites shall not last more than three (3) days.

According to Section 10, the application should contain the names of the incumbent officers of the community-based fraternity, sorority, or organization, and any person or persons who will take charge in the conduct of initiation rites.

According to Section 10, the application shall be under oath with a declaration that it has been posted on the official bulletin board of the barangay hall or the municipal or city hall where the community-based fraternity, sorority or organization is based, and the bulletin board of the office of the community-based fraternity, sorority or organization.

According to Section 10, the application shall be posted from the time of submission of the written notice to the punong barangay or municipal or city mayor and shall only be removed from its posting three (3) days after the conduct of the initiation rites.

Sec. 11. Monitoring of Initiation Rites of Community-Based and All Similar Fraternities, Sororities or Organizations.

The punong barangay of the barangay or the municipal or city mayor of the municipality or city where community-based fraternity, sorority or organization is based must assign at least two (2) barangay or municipal or city officials to be present during the initiation and document the entire proceedings.

The representatives who are present during the initiation shall make a report of the initiation rites to the punong barangay, or the municipal or the city mayor regarding the conduct of the initiation.

If hazing is still committed despite their presence, no liability shall attach to them unless it is proven that they failed to perform an overt act to prevent or stop the commission thereof.

Sec. 12. 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 which consists of hazing, as defined in this Act.

This provision applies prior to an initiation rite that involves inflicting physical or psychological suffering, harm, or injury.

It shall be void and without any binding effect on the parties.

No, 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. 13. Administrative Sanctions.

Yes. The responsible officials of the school, the uniformed learning institutions, the AFP or the PNP 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. 14. Penalties.

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

The penalty of reclusion perpetua and a fine of Two million pesos (P2,000,000.00) shall be imposed upon all persons who actually planned or participated in the conduct of the hazing.

The following individuals shall be held liable under Section 14 of the law on hazing: (1) those who actually planned or participated in the hazing; (2) all officers of the fraternity, sorority, or organization who are actually present during the hazing; (3) the adviser of a fraternity, sorority, or organization 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 such adviser or adviser or advisers can do so without peril to their person or their family; (4) all former officers, nonresident members, or alumni of the fraternity, sorority, or organization who are also present during the hazing; (5) officers or members of a fraternity, sorority, or organization who knowingly cooperated in carrying out the hazing by inducing the victim to be present thereat; and (6) members of the fraternity, sorority, or organization who are present during the hazing when they are intoxicated or under the influence of alcohol or illegal drugs.

If the former officer, nonresident member, or alumnus is a member of the Philippine Bar, such member shall immediately be subjected to disciplinary proceedings by the Supreme Court pursuant to its power to discipline members of the Philippine Bar.

If the former officer, nonresident member, or alumnus belongs to any other profession subject to regulation by the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC), such professional shall immediately be subjected to disciplinary proceedings by the concerned Professional Regulatory Board, the imposable penalty for which shall include, but is not limited to, suspension for a period of not less than three (3) or revocation of the professional license.

To show that the concerned professional has become morally fit for readmission into the profession, the concerned professional must submit affidavits from at least three (3) disinterested persons, good moral certifications from different unaffiliated and credible government, religious, and socio-civic organizations, and such other relevant evidence. The readmission into the profession shall be subject to the approval of the respective Professional Regulatory Board.

The penalty of reclusion temporal in its maximum period and a fine of One million pesos (P1,000,000.00) shall be imposed upon all persons who are present in the conduct of the hazing.

The penalty of reclusion temporal and fine of One million pesos (P1,000,000.00) shall be imposed upon former officers, nonresident member, alumni of the fraternity, sorority, or organization who, after the commission of any of the prohibited acts proscribed herein, will perform any act to hide, conceal, or otherwise hamper or obstruct any investigation that will be conducted thereafter.

If the former officer, nonresident member, or alumnus be a member of the Philippine Bar, such member shall immediately be subjected to disciplinary proceedings by the Supreme Court pursuant to its power to discipline members of the Philippine Bar.

If the former officer, nonresident members, or alumnus belong to any other profession subject to regulation by the PRC, such professional shall immediately be subjected to disciplinary proceedings by the concerned Professional Regulatory Board, the imposable penalty for which shall include, but is not limited to, suspension for a period of not less than three (3) years or revocation of the professional license pursuant to this section may be reinstated upon submission of affidavits from at least three (3) disinterested persons, good moral certifications from different unaffiliated and credible government, religious, and socio-civic organizations, and such other relevant evidence to show that the concerned professional has become morally fit for readmission into the profession. However, said readmission into the profession shall be subject to the approval of the respective Professional Regulatory Board.

The penalty of prision correcional in its minimum period shall be imposed upon any person who shall intimidate, threaten, force, or employ, or administer any form of vexation against another person for the purpose of recruitment in joining or promoting a particular fraternity, sorority, or organization.

The persistent and repeated proposal or invitation made to a person who had twice refused to participate or join the proposed fraternity, sorority, or organization shall be prima facie evidence of vexation for purposes of this section.

A fine of One million pesos (P1,000,000.00) shall be imposed on the school.

If hazing has been committed in circumvention of the provisions of this Act, it is incumbent upon school officials to investigate motu proprio and take an active role to ascertain factual events and identity witnesses in order to determine the disciplinary sanctions it may impose, as well as provide assistance to police authorities.

Representatives from the school should be present during the initiation as provided under Section 5 of this Act.

Yes, the fine of One million pesos (P1,000,000.00) shall be imposed on the school regardless of whether or not it was aware of the hazing incident during the initiation rites.

It is not the sole responsibility of school officials to impose disciplinary sanctions on hazing incidents. Police authorities may also impose appropriate sanctions based on the investigation results.

The owner or lessee of the place where hazing is conducted shall be liable as principal and penalized under paragraphs (a) or (b) of this section if 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 they can do so without peril to their person or their 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 and penalized under paragraphs (a) or (b) hereof. Additionally, the school authorities including faculty members as well as barangay, municipal, or city officials shall be liable as an accomplice and likewise be held administratively accountable for hazing conducted by the fraternities, sororities, other organizations.

The presence of any person, even if such person is not a member of the fraternity, sorority, or organization, during the hazing is prima facie evidence of participation therein as a principal unless such person or persons prevented the commission of the acts punishable herein or promptly reported the same to the law enforcement authorities if they can do so without peril to their person or their family.

The incumbent officers of the fraternity, sorority, or organization concerned shall be jointly liable with those members who actually participated in the hazing.

Any person charged under this Act shall not be entitled to the mitigating circumstances that there was no intention to commit so grave a wrong.

Yes, this section shall apply to the president, manager, director, or other responsible officer of businesses or corporations engaged in hazing as a requirement for employment in the manner provided herein.

Any conviction by final judgement shall be reflected on the scholastic record, personal, or employment record of the person convicted, regardless of when the judgment conviction has become final.

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What you need to know about the Anti-Hazing Law

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This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.

MANILA, Philippines – The effectiveness of the Anti-Hazing Law is once again being questioned as violent initiation rites by a fraternity claimed another life of a young law student.

University of Santo Tomas student Horatio Castillo III died on September 17 due to traumatic injuries he sustained allegedly at the hands of members of the Aegis Juris fraternity.  

It is clear for the parents of the 22-year-old that their son “ was killed by criminals ” from the fraternity, expressing outrage that “barbaric and criminal acts continue to be performed in the false name of brotherhood.”    

These violent acts were supposed to be prevented by the Anti-Hazing Law. But many believe that the law lacks the needed teeth to actually end the long-standing “tradition” of violence present among organizations – particularly fraternities and sororities. (READ: Inside the brotherhood: Thoughts on fraternity violence )

What does the law say?  

In 1991, Ateneo law student Leonardo “Lenny” Villa died after suffering multiple injuries from hazing rites conducted by the Aquilia Legis fraternity.  

His death shed light on the practice and led to the enactment of the Anti-Hazing Law in 1995. But Republic Act No. 8049  still does not really prevent hazing from taking place.

The law defines hazing as “an initiation rite or practice as a prerequisite for admission into membership in a fraternity, sorority or organization by placing the recruit, neophyte or applicant in some embarrassing or humiliating situations such as forcing him to do menial, silly, foolish and other similar tasks or activities or otherwise subjecting him to physical or psychological suffering or injury.”

According to the law, these initiation rites can still push through if:

• There is written notice addressed to the school authorities or head of organization 7 days prior
• There are at least two representatives from the school present    

The written notice should include details about the activity, including how long it will last, the names of those who will undergo the initiation rites, and an “undertaking that no physical violence will be employed.”

The representatives assigned by the school, meanwhile, have the duty to “see to it that no physical harm of any kind shall be inflicted upon a recruit, neophyte or applicant.”

Hazing automatically a criminal offense

Unfortunately, the rules set forth by the law are not always followed. Various organizations across the Philippines still employ the “age-old tradition” of using violence to “test” applicants and has become an open secret among students.  

Most often than not, this practice is only put in the spotlight when people are killed, as the law really only goes after those responsible if the hazing rites result in injuries or death.  

Members of organizations – regardless whether fraternity, sorority, or otherwise – directly involved in the infliction of harm will be liable if the person who went through the hazing or any form of initiation rites “suffers any physical injury or dies,” according to the law.  The law does not penalize the actual act of initiation rites.

If a neophyte dies, has been raped, sodomized, or mutilated, those responsible can face life imprisonment.

Meanwhile, those who have actual knowledge of the hazing conducted but did not do anything about it – such as owners of the place where it was held, school authorities, and other members of the organization – can be considered as accomplices.    

In 2012, former law professor and now Supreme Court spokesperson Theodore Te wrote that “by not defining hazing as a criminal act per se, subject to specific very narrowly-drawn exceptions, the law itself guarantees that hazing will continue.” (READ: Death and brotherhood )

The law also does not entirely cover the effects on mental health of an applicant – only if he or she becomes “insane, imbecile.” Imagine the number of now-members who were subjected to the paddle and fortunately left physically “unscathed” but left with  psychological scars .  

Since the law was passed in 1995, the deaths due to hazing did not really stop as there are at least 15 people who have died, while many have reported sustaining injuries from the rites.  

The numbers do not reflect those who may have suffered injuries but chose not to report to authorities. Meanwhile, in the 22 years of the law’s existence, there has been only one conviction. (READ: What’s happening to hazing cases in the Philippines? )  

Because of this harsh reality, many have called for amendments to the Anti-Hazing Law or have called for passing entirely another bill has more teeth.

House Bill 4714 – called the “ Servando Act ” after college student Guillo Cesar Servando who died due to injuries from hazing – which seeks to totally ban any form of hazing on applicants of any organization was filed in 2014 by then Valenzuela Representative Sherwin Gatchalian.    

Compared to the existing law, Gatchalian’s bill will give power to schools to approve or deny applications by organizations to conduct initiation rites. It also increases the penalties imposed on those held liable.

Te, in his 2012 Rappler piece , also laid out what should be included in the Anti-Hazing Law for it to be effective. These include changing the word “regulation” in the title to “prohibited,” define hazing as unlawful as it is, and explicitly stress that consent from victims will not be a defense and waivers are voided, among others.  

Until the existing Anti-Hazing Law remains in effect, the practice of inflicting physical and mental harm during initiation rites is likely to continue. (READ: Stop the charade, ban hazing )  – Rappler.com

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APO Committee on Membership

The Anti-Hazing Law

THE ANTI-HAZING LAW OF THE REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES REPUBLIC ACT No. 8049

AN ACT REGULATING HAZING AND OTHER FORMS OF INITIATION RITES IN FRATERNITIES, SORORITIES, AND ORGANIZATIONS AND PROVIDING PENALTIES THEREFORE.

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

SECTION 1. Hazing as used in this Act is an initiation rite or practice as a prerequisite for admission into membership in a fraternity, sorority or organization by placing the recruit, neophyte or applicant in some embarrassing or humiliating situations such as forcing him/her to do menial, silly, foolish and similar tasks or activities or otherwise subjecting him/her to physical or psychological suffering or injury.

The term organization shall include any club or the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Philippine National Police, Philippine Military Academy, or cadet corps of the Citizen’s Military Training, or Citizen’s Army Training. The physical, mental and psychological testing and training procedure 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 the purpose of this act.

SECTION 2. No-hazing or initiation rites in any from or manner by a fraternity, sorority or organization shall be allowed without prior written notice to the school authorities or head of organization seven (7) days before the conduct of such initiations. The written notice shall indicate the period of the initiation activities which shall not exceed three (3) days, shall include the names of those to be subjected to such activities, and shall further contain an undertaking that no physical violence be employed by anybody during such initiation rites.

SECTION 3. The head of the school or organization or their representatives must assign at least two (2) representatives of the school or organization, as the case may be, to be present during initiation. It is the duty of such representative to see to it that no physical harm of any kind shall be inflicted upon a recruit, neophyte or applicant.

SECTION 4. If the person subjected to hazing or other forms of initiation rites suffers any physical injury or dies as a result thereof, the officers and members of the fraternity, sorority or organization who actually participated in the infliction of physical harm shall be liable as principals. The person or persons who participated in the hazing shall suffer.

a.) The penalty of reclusion perpetual if death, rape, sodomy or mutilation results therefrom.

b.) The penalty of reclusion temporal in its maximum period if in consequence of the hazing the victim shall become insane, imbecile, impotent or blind.

c.) The penalty of reclusion temporal in its maximum period if in consequence of the hazing the victim shall have lost the use of speech or the power to hear or to smell, or shall have lost an eye, a hand, a foot, an arm or a leg shall have lost the use of nay such member shall have become incapacitated for the activity or work in which he/she was habitually engaged.

d.) The penalty of reclusion temporal in its minimum period if in consequence of the hazing the victim shall become deformed or shall have lost any other part of his/her body, or shall have lost the use thereof or shall have been ill or incapacitated for the performance of the activity or work in which he/she has habitually engaged for a period of more than ninety (90) days.

e.) The penalty of prison mayor in its maximum period if in consequence of the hazing the victim shall have been ill or incapacitated for the performance of the activity or work in which he was habitually engaged for more than thirty (30) days.

f.) The penalty of prison mayor in its medium period if in consequence of the hazing the victim shall have been ill or capacitated for the performance of the activity or work in which he was habitually engaged for ten (10) days or more, or that the injury sustained shall require medical attendance for the same period.

g.) The penalty of the prison mayor in its period if in consequence of the hazing the victim shall have been ill or incapacitated for the performance of the activity or work in which he was habitually engaged from one (1) to nine (9) days, or that the injury sustained shall require medical attendance for the same period.

h.) The penalty of prison correctional in its maximum period if in consequence of the hazing the victim shall sustain physical injuries, which do not prevent him/her from engaging in his habitual activity, or work nor require medical attendance.

The responsible officials of the school or of the police, military or citizen’s army training organization may impose the appropriate administrative sanctions on the person or persons charged under this provision even before their conviction.

The maximum penalty herein provided shall be imposed in any of the following instances:

a.) When the recruitment is accompanied by force, violence, threat, intimidation or deceit on the person of the recruit who refuses to join;

b.) When the recruit, neophyte or applicant initially consents to join but upon learning that hazing will be committed on his person, is prevented from quitting.

c.) When the recruit, neophyte or applicant having undergone hazing is prevented from reporting the unlawful act to his parents or guardians, to the proper school authorities or to the police authorities, through force, violence, threat or intimidation;

d.) When the hazing is committed outside of the school or institution; or

e.) When the victim is below twelve (12) years of age at he time of hazing.

The owner of the place where the hazing is conducted shall be liable as an accomplice, when he/she has actual knowledge of the hazing conducted therein but failed to take any action to prevent the same from occurring. If the hazing is held in the home of one of the officers of members of the fraternity, sorority, group, or organization, the parent 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.

The school authorities including 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 shall be punished as accomplices for the acts of hazing committed by the perpetrators.

The officers, former officers or alumni of the organization, group, fraternity or sorority who actually planned the hazing although not present when the acts constituting the hazing were committed shall be liable as principals. Officers or members of an organization, group, fraternity or sorority’s adviser who is present when the acts constituting the hazing were committed and failed to take any action to prevent the same from occurring shall be liable as a principal.

The presence of any person during the hazing is prima facie evidence of participation therein as a principal unless he prevented the commission of the acts punishable herein.

Any person charged under this provision should not be entitled to the mitigating circumstances that there was no intention to commit so grave a wrong.

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.

SECTION 5. If any provision or part of this Act is declared invalid or unconstitutional, the other parts or provision thereof shall remain valid and effective.

SECTION 6. All laws. Orders, rules of regulations, which are inconsistent with or contrary to the provisions of this Act, are hereby amended or repealed accordingly.

SECTION 7. This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication in at least two (2) national newspapers of general circulation.

Approved: June 07, 1995

(Signed) FIDEL V. RAMOS President of the Philippines

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• Legislative
• Republic Acts
• Republic Act No. 11053

An Act Prohibiting Hazing and Regulating Other Forms of Initiation Rites of Fraternities, Sororities, and Other Organizations, and Providing Penalties for Violations Thereof, Amending for the Purpose Republic Act No. 8049, Entitled “An Act Regulating Hazing and Other Forms of Initiation Rites in Fraternities, Sororities, and Organizations and Providing Penalties Therefor” Republic Act No. 11053 Congress of the Philippines 29 June 2018

S. No. 1662

H. No. 6573

Republic of the Philippines Congress of the Philippines Metro Manila

Seventeenth Congress Second Regular Session

Begun and held in Metro Manila, on Monday, the twenty-fourth day of July, two thousand seventeen.

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

Section 1. A new section to be denominated as Section 1 is hereby inserted in Republic Act No. 8049, to read as follows:

“ Sec. 1. Short, Title.— This Act shall be known as the “Anti-Hazing Act of 2018”.

Section 2. Section 1 of the same Act is hereby amended to read as follows:

“ Sec. 2. Definition of Terms.— As used in this Act:

“(a) Hazing refers to any act that results in physical or psychological suffering, harm, or injury inflicted on a recruit, neophyte, applicant, or member as part of an initiation rite or practice made as a prerequisite for admission or a requirement for continuing membership in a fraternity, sorority, or organization including, but not limited to, paddling, whipping, beating, branding, forced calisthenics, exposure to the weather, forced consumption of any food, liquor, beverage, drug or other substance, or any other brutal treatment or forced physical activity which is likely to adversely affect the physical and psychological health of such recruit, neophyte, applicant, or member. This shall also include any activity, intentionally made or otherwise, by one person alone or acting with others, that tends to humiliate or embarrass, degrade, abuse, or endanger, by requiring a recruit, neophyte, applicant, or member to do menial, silly, or foolish tasks.

“(b) Initiation or Initiation Rites refer to ceremonies, practices, rituals, or other acts, whether formal or informal, that a person must perform or take part in order to be accepted into a fraternity, sorority, or organization as a full-fledged member. It includes ceremonies, practices, rituals, and other acts in all stages of membership in a fraternity, sorority, or organization.

“(c) Organization refers to an organized body of people which includes, but is not limited to, any club, association, group, fraternity, and sorority. This term shall include the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), the Philippine National Police (PNP), the Philippine Military Academy (PMA), the Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA), and other similar uniformed service learning institutions.

“(d) Schools refer to colleges, universities, and all other educational institutions.”

Section 3. A new section to be denominated as Section 3 is hereby inserted in the same Act to read as follows:

“ Sec. 3. Prohibition on Hazing.— All forms of hazing shall be prohibited in fraternities, sororities, and organizations in schools, including citizens’ military training and citizens’ army training. This prohibition shall likewise apply to all other fraternities, sororities, and organizations that are not school-based, such as community-based and other similar fraternities, sororities, and organizations: Provided , That 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 AFP and the PNP as approved by the Secretary of National Defense and the National Police Commission, duly recommended by the Chief of Staff of the AFP and the Director General of the PNP, shall not be considered as hazing for purposes of this Act: Provided , further , That the exception provided herein shall likewise apply to similar procedures and practices approved by the respective heads of other uniformed learning institutions as to their prospective members, nor shall this provision apply to any customary athletic events or other similar contests or competitions or any activity or conduct that furthers a legal and legitimate objective, subject to prior submission of a medical clearance or certificate.

“In no case shall hazing be made a requirement for employment in any business or corporation.”

Section 4. Section 2 of the same Act is hereby amended to read as follows:

“ Sec. 4. Regulation of School-Based Initiation Rites.— Only initiation rites or practices that do not constitute hazing shall be allowed: Provided , That:

“(a) A written application to conduct initiation rites shall be made to the proper authorities of the school not later than seven (7) days prior to the scheduled initiation date;

“(b) 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 and the manner by which they will conduct the initiation rites:

“(c) Such written application shall further contain an undertaking that no harm of any kind shall be committed by anybody during the initiation rites;

“(d) The initiation rites shall not last more than three (3) days;

“(e) The application shall contain the names of the incumbent officers of the fraternity, sorority, or organization and any person or persons who will take charge in the conduct of the initiation rites;

“(f) The application shall be under oath with a declaration that it has been posted in the official school bulletin board, the bulletin board of the office of the fraternity, sorority, or organization, and two (2) other conspicuous places in the school or in the premises of the organization; and

“(g) The application shall be posted from the time of submission of the written notice to the school authorities or head of organization and shall only be removed from its posting three (3) days after the conduct of the initiation rites.

“The school, fraternity, sorority, or organization shall provide for their respective bulletin boards for purposes of this section.

“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. The appropriate school authorities shall have the obligation to disapprove the application to conduct initiation rites that do not conform with any of the requirements of this section, and the reasons thereof shall be stated clearly and in unequivocal terms in a formal advice to the fraternity, sorority, or organization concerned, taking into consideration the safety and security of participants in the activity.

“School officials shall have the authority to impose, after due notice and summary hearing, disciplinary sanctions, in accordance with the school’s guidelines and regulations on the matter, which shall include, but shall not be limited to, reprimand, suspension, exclusion, or expulsion, 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 in accordance with the school’s guidelines and regulations on the matter ranging from reprimand to expulsion 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.”

Section 5. Section 3 of the same Act is hereby amended to read as follows:

“ Sec. 5. 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, and to document the entire proceedings. Thereafter, said representatives who were present during the initiation shall make a report of the initiation rites to the appropriate officials of the school regarding the conduct of the said initiation: Provided , That if hazing is still committed despite their presence, no liability shall attach to them unless it is proven that they failed to perform an overt act to prevent or stop the commission thereof.”

Section 6. A new section to be denominated as Section 6 is hereby inserted in the same Act to read as follows:

“ Sec. 6. Registration of Fraternities, Sororities, and Other Organizations.— All existing fraternities, sororities, and other organizations otherwise not created or organized by the school but has existing members who are students or plans to recruit students to be its members shall be required to register with the proper school authorities before it conducts activities whether on or off-campus, including recruitment of members.

“A newly established fraternity, sorority, or organization in a school shall immediately register with the proper school authorities 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 in accordance with the school’s guidelines and regulations on the matter including suspension to the head and other officers of the fraternity, sorority, or organization who fail to register or update their roster of members as required under this section.

“Failure to comply with any of the requirements in this section shall result in the cancellation of the registration of the fraternity, sorority, or organization.”

Section 7. A new section to be denominated as Section 7 is hereby inserted in the same Act to read as follows:

“ Sec. 7. Faculty Adviser.— Schools shall require all fraternities, sororities, and organizations, as a condition to the grant of accreditation or registration, to submit the name or names of their respective faculty adviser or advisers who must not be members of the respective fraternity, sorority, or organization. The submission shall also include a written acceptance or consent on the part of the selected faculty adviser or advisers.

“The faculty adviser or advisers shall be responsible for monitoring the activities of the fraternity, sorority, or organization. Each 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 established or registered.

“In case of violation of any of the provisions of this Act, it is presumed that the faculty adviser has knowledge and consented to the commission of any of the unlawful acts stated therein.”

Section 8. A new section to be denominated as Section 8 is hereby inserted in the same Act to read as follows:

“ Sec. 8. Role of Educational Institutions.— The responsibility of schools to exercise reasonable supervision in loco parentis over the conduct of its students requires the diligence that prudent parents would employ in the same circumstance when disciplining and protecting their children. To this end, it shall be the duty of schools to take more proactive steps to protect its students from the dangers of participating in activities that involve hazing.

“Schools shall implement an information dissemination campaign at the start of every semester or trimester to provide adequate information to students and parents or guardians regarding the consequences of conducting and participating in hazing.

“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.”

Section 9. A new section to be denominated as Section 9 is hereby inserted in the same Act to read as follows:

“ Sec. 9. Registration of Community-Based and Other Similar Fraternities, Sororities, or Organizations.— All new and existing community-based fraternities, sororities, or organizations, including their respective local chapters, shall register with the barangay, municipality, or city wherein they are primarily based.

“Upon registration, all community-based fraternities, sororities, or organizations, including their respective local chapters, shall submit a comprehensive list of members and officers which shall be updated yearly from the date of registration.”

Section 10. A new section to be denominated as Section 10 is hereby inserted in the same Act to read as follows:

“ Sec. 10. Regulation of Initiation Rites for Community-Based Fraternities, Sororities, or Organizations.— Only initiation rites or practices that do not constitute hazing shall be allowed: Provided , That:

“(a) A written application to conduct the same shall be made to the punong barangay in the barangay or the municipal or city mayor in the municipality or city where the community-based fraternity, sorority, or organization is based, not later than seven (7) days prior to the scheduled initiation date;

“(b) 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;

“(d) A medical certificate of the recruit, neophyte, or applicant must be attached to the application to ensure fitness to undergo initiation when it involves physical activity not falling under the definition of hazing as used in this Act;

“(e) The initiation rites shall not last more than three (3) days;

“(f) The application shall contain the names of the incumbent officers of the community-based fraternity, sorority, or organization and any person or persons who will take charge in the conduct of the initiation rites;

“(g) The application shall be under oath with a declaration that it has been posted on the official bulletin board of the barangay hall or the municipal or city hall where the community-based fraternity, sorority, or organization is based, and on the bulletin board of the office of the community-based fraternity, sorority, or organization; and

“(h) The application shall be posted from the time of submission of the written notice to the punong barangay or municipal or city mayor and shall only be removed from its posting three (3) days after the conduct of the initiation rites.”

Section 11. A new section to be denominated as Section 11 is hereby inserted in the same Act to read as follows:

“ Sec. 11. Monitoring of Initiation Rites of Community-Based and All Similar Fraternities, Sororities, or Organizations.— The punong barangay of the barangay or the municipal or city mayor of the municipality or city where the community-based fraternity, sorority, or organization is based must assign at least two (2) barangay or municipal or city officials to be present during the initiation and to document the entire proceedings. Thereafter, said representatives who were present during the initiation shall make a report of the initiation rites to the punong barangay, or the municipal or city mayor regarding the conduct of the initiation: Provided , That if hazing is still committed despite their presence, no liability shall attach to them unless it is proven that they failed to perform an overt act to prevent or stop the commission thereof.”

Section 12. A new section to be denominated as Section 12 is hereby inserted in the same Act to read as follows:

“ Sec. 12. 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 which consists of hazing, as defined in this Act, 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.”

Section 13. A new section to be denominated as Section 13 is hereby inserted in the same Act to read as follows:

“ Sec. 13. Administrative Sanctions.— The responsible officials of the school, the uniformed learning institutions, the AFP or the PNP 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.”

Section 14. Section 4 of the same Act is hereby amended to read as follows:

“ Sec. 14. Penalties.— The following penalties shall be imposed:

“(a) The penalty of reclusion perpetua and a fine of Three million pesos (₱3,000,000.00) shall be imposed upon those who actually planned or participated in the hazing if, as a consequence of the hazing, death, rape, sodomy, or mutilation results therefrom;

“(b) The penalty of reclusion perpetua and a fine of Two million pesos (₱2,000,000.00) shall be imposed upon:

“(1) All persons who actually planned or participated in the conduct of the hazing;

“(2) All officers of the fraternity, sorority, or organization who are actually present during the hazing;

“(3) The adviser of a fraternity, sorority, or organization 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 such adviser or advisers can do so without peril to their person or their family;

“(4) All former officers, nonresident members, or alumni of the fraternity, sorority, or organization who are also present during the hazing: Provided , That should the former officer, nonresident member, or alumnus be a member of the Philippine Bar, such member shall immediately be subjected to disciplinary proceedings by the Supreme Court pursuant to its power to discipline members of the Philippine Bar: Provided , further , That should the former officer, nonresident member, or alumnus belong to any other profession subject to regulation by the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC), such professional shall immediately be subjected to disciplinary proceedings by the concerned Professional Regulatory Board, the imposable penalty for which shall include, but is not limited to, suspension for a period of not less than three (3) years or revocation of the professional license. A suspended or revoked professional license pursuant to this section may be reinstated upon submission of affidavits from at least three (3) disinterested persons, good moral certifications from different unaffiliated and credible government, religious, and socio-civic organizations, and such other relevant evidence to show that the concerned professional has become morally fit for readmission into the profession: Provided , That said readmission into the profession shall be subject to the approval of the respective Professional Regulatory Board;

“(5) Officers or members of a fraternity, sorority, or organization who knowingly cooperated in carrying out the hazing by inducing the victim to be present thereat; and

“(6) Members of the fraternity, sorority, or organization who are present during the hazing when they are intoxicated or under the influence of alcohol or illegal drugs;

“(c) The penalty of reclusion temporal in its maximum period and a fine of One million pesos (₱1,000,000.00) shall be imposed upon all persons who are present in the conduct of the hazing;

“(d) The penalty of reclusion temporal and a fine of One million pesos (₱1,000,000.00) shall be imposed upon former officers, nonresident members, or alumni of the fraternity, sorority, or organization who, after the commission of any of the prohibited acts proscribed herein, will perform any act to hide, conceal, or otherwise hamper or obstruct any investigation that will be conducted thereafter: Provided , That should the former officer, nonresident member, or alumnus be a member of the Philippine Bar, such member shall immediately be subjected to disciplinary proceedings by the Supreme Court pursuant to its power to discipline members of the Philippine Bar: Provided , further , That should the former officer, nonresident member, or alumnus belong to any other profession subject to regulation by the PRC, such professional shall immediately be subjected to disciplinary proceedings by the concerned Professional Regulatory Board, the imposable penalty for which shall include, but is not limited to, suspension for a period of not less than three (3) years or revocation of the professional license. A suspended or revoked professional license pursuant to this section may be reinstated upon submission of affidavits from at least three (3) disinterested persons, good moral certifications from different unaffiliated and credible government, religious, and socio-civic organizations, and such other relevant evidence to show that the concerned professional has become morally fit for readmission into the profession: Provided , That said readmission into the profession shall be subject to the approval of the respective Professional Regulatory Board.”

“(e) The penalty of prision correccional in its minimum period shall be imposed upon any person who shall intimidate, threaten, force, or employ, or administer any form of vexation against another person for the purpose of recruitment in joining or promoting a particular fraternity, sorority, or organization. The persistent and repeated proposal or invitation made to a person who had twice refused to participate or join the proposed fraternity, sorority, or organization, shall be prima facie evidence of vexation for purposes of this section; and

“(f) A fine of One million pesos (₱1,000,000.00) 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 5 of this Act: Provided , That if hazing has been committed in circumvention of the provisions of this Act, it is incumbent upon school officials to investigate motu proprio and take an active role to ascertain factual events and identify witnesses in order to determine the disciplinary sanctions it may impose, as well as provide assistance to police authorities.”

“The owner or lessee of the place where hazing is conducted shall be liable as principal and penalized under paragraphs (a) or (b) of this section, when such owner or lessee 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 they can do so without peril to their person or their 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 and penalized under paragraphs (a) or (b) hereof 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 such parents can do so without peril to their person or their family.

“The school authorities including faculty members as well as barangay, municipal, or city officials shall be liable as an accomplice and likewise be held administratively accountable for hazing conducted by fraternities, sororities, and other organizations, if it can be shown that the school or barangay, municipal, or city officials allowed or consented to the conduct of hazing or where there is actual knowledge of hazing, but such officials failed to take any action to prevent the same from occurring or failed to promptly report to the law enforcement authorities if the same can be done without peril to their person or their family.

“The presence of any person, even if such person is not a member of the fraternity, sorority, or organization, during the hazing is prima facie evidence of participation therein as a principal unless such person or persons prevented the commission of the acts punishable herein or promptly reported the same to the law enforcement authorities if they can do so without peril,to their person or their family.

“The incumbent officers of the fraternity, sorority, or organization concerned shall be jointly liable with those members who actually participated in the hazing.

“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.

“This section shall apply to the president, manager, director, or other responsible officer of businesses or corporations engaged in hazing as a requirement for employment in the manner provided herein.

“Any conviction by final judgment shall be reflected in the scholastic record, personal, or employment record of the person convicted, regardless of when the judgment of conviction has become final.”

Section 15. A new section to be denominated as Section 15 is hereby inserted in the same Act to read as follows:

“ Sec. 15. Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR).— The Commission on Higher Education (CHED). together with the Department of Education (DepED), Department of Justice (DOJ), Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). AFP, PNP, and National Youth Commission (NYC), shall promulgate the IRR within ninety (90) days from the effectivitv of this Act.”

Section 16. Separability Clause.— If any provision or part of this Act is declared invalid or unconstitutional, the other parts or provisions hereof shall remain valid and effective.

Section 17. Repealing Clause.— Republic Act No. 8049 and all other laws, decrees, executive orders, proclamations, rules or regulations, or parts thereof which are inconsistent with or contrary to the provisions of this Act are hereby amended or modified accordingly.

Section 18. Effectivity Clause.— This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication in the Official Gazette or in at least two (2) national newspapers of general circulation.

Approved: June 29, 2018 .

Republic Act No. 11052

Philippine Food Technology Act

Republic Act No. 11054

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