tuesday afternoon. i received a text message from one of my orgmates saying she would not be able to attend our meeting. she said she had to go to a friend's burial. i was so busy that afternoon so i was not able to digest what the message meant. we started and ended the meeting as if i did not receive any message. there was nothing really significant about that day.

well maybe, as far as i was concerned.

Cris Mendez's family would definitely argue otherwise. that afternoon, that night, they lost Cris. he died of severe / grave / terrible (insert other adjectives) injuries, allegedly because of hazing. i could not tell which adjective would be more appropriate to describe the kind of hell he went through. i did not see any pictures of his dead body. all i saw was a picture of him published in Oblation, the official newsletter of the University Student Council. he was wearing a white shirt and a baseball cap and he was smiling. a friend thinks he's cute. another friend, who was his seatmate in a GE class, said he smells good. some other people who were connected with Cris in one way or the other had been telling others that he was actually a good person. these are obviously better images than a swollen body, and i'd rather imagine him with these pleasant things than think of what caused his death.

and yet, i could not do it. i could not think of pleasant things about him because i do not know him until his death. perhaps, we rode the same jeepney once. or maybe passed by each other at the shopping center. i do not know and i would never know. now, all i could imagine was the way those damn guys beat him up. lucky are those people who had some good memories of him; at least they could share something to other people when they are asked about Cris. then again, since they know Cris, they know the gravity of injustice in his death. they think he did not deserve this. he was a graduating student, a councilor of NCPAG, an active member of several organizations. i also heard he was cum laude standing. they said, he also had plans of going to law school. rumors about him being recruited into a fraternity popular in the College of Law led to conclusions that this fraternity is responsible for his death.

and you ask, why am blogging about someone i don't know?

well, because his case just strengthened my disapproval (for the lack of a better word) of the concept of "fraternity." ever since, i was not really in favor of such organizations. well, i know that some of these frats are into socio-civic activities. yes, of course, that's good. however, i don't like the idea that they had to go through some violent initiation just to get accepted. if this group is really for some "good deeds," then why do you need to paddle some person's legs for hours? is that to test their strength? are these fratmen just curious about a person's degree of tolerance for pain? is paddling or hazing the most "effective" measure of strength they can think of?

the last question was rhetorical, i know. paddling is not an effective measure and it will never be. actually, it all boils down to this vicious cycle of violence propagated by (some) fraternities. they are paddled to death to endure pain so that when the time comes that they have to beat up other fratmen, they would not feel as much pain. even if these fratmen will be made to understand that there is no need for paddling and other similar activities, new members will never allow neophytes not to experience these things because it would be unfair to them. thus, you can never get rid of paddling, etc., as it becomes one of the key determinants of your being accepted to a fraternity. 

where is the brotherhood in this? when you had to injure strong paddles on your legs to earn every inch of belongingness you wished these fratmen would make you feel. and yet, what you get is a swollen body, if not a journey to the afterlife.

we could not afford to have another casualty because of hazing.

Stop the brotherhood of violence!

Justice for Cris and the other victims!