Akbayan Youth condemned the tragic death of student by hazing

Wazzup Pilipinas!?

Akbayan Youth condemned the tragic death by hazing of Ahldryn Lery Chua Bravante, a young criminology student from Imus, Cavite.
"If authorities cannot protect young people from frat hazing, what more from abuse from a mandatory ROTC program? Mandatory ROTC will mean mandatory exposure to abuse and violence like hazing," Akbayan! Youth Chairperson Justine Balane said.

"Imagine the sorrow of parents who send their son to school in hopes of a better future, only to lose them to a senseless culture of violence such as hazing. The threat of hazing-related violence under ROTC is real as we learned from the cases of students hurt in PUP and La Salle in 2014 and Tagum in 2016," Balane said.

Bravante's killing is the second reported hazing-related death this year.

"Every day that the Mandatory ROTC is not dropped from the Senate priorities is a day where we lure our young in harm's way. Senators shouldn't wait for an ROTC-related death, similar to Mark Welson Chua's case, before they act," he added.

Mark Welson Chua was a student of ROTC in the University of Sto Tomas in 2001 who uncovered corruption issues in the program and was killed by fellow cadet officers because of it. His death led to the replacement of the ROTC with the National Service Training Program.

"The Senate can — and should — prevent the deaths of more students by dropping the Mandatory ROTC bill," he said.