Petitioner alleges student body ‘biased’

By Jeannette Andrade
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 02:36:00 03/15/2008

MANILA, Philippines – A senior student of the University of the Philippines (UP) is asking a Quezon City court to prevent the university Student Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) from ruling on the alleged death by hazing last year of Cris Anthony Mendez.

Former National College of Public Administration and Governance (NCPAG) student council president and graduating student Ariel Paolo Ante, allegedly one of the last persons to see Mendez alive, has petitioned the QC Regional Trial Court Branch 83 for certiorari and prohibition with urgent application for injunctive relief.

Mendez, another UP student, died in a Quezon City hospital Aug. 27 last year allegedly due to injuries sustained during hazing.

Ante alleged the SDT was biased against him and the other students facing similar charges. Claiming his guilt had been prejudged, the petitioner said due process was no longer available to him under the circumstances.

Ante named as respondents the UP Student Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) and the university itself. He claimed he “was singled out by UP as responsible for Cris’ death” due to mounting pressure on the university to give justice to the dead student.

The university prosecutor filed six formal charges against him for allegedly participating in the conduct of alleged hazing activities, leaving Mendez in the hospital and failing to give information to authorities, and failing to comply with the directive of the UP vice chancellor for student affairs to give information on the circumstances surrounding Mendez’s death. Penalties ranged from suspension to expulsion.

Ante said that while it was inexcusable to take another person’s life, it was as inexcusable to violate the law.

Citing university rules, Ante said he was deprived of the right to a preliminary inquiry by an SDT member. Preliminary inquiry by a university prosecutor was not valid under the revised rules on fraternity and student organizations, Ante claimed.

Ante also asked the court to declare the formal charges, as well as SDT proceedings, void and of no effect. It asked the court to order the SDT or its members who conducted the “invalid” preliminary inquiry to inhibit themselves from further hearing the case.

The petition is the second to be filed against the university, its officials, and members of the SDT. Last November, Juan Paolo Fajardo, another respondent, filed a similar petition.

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