DILG: Up to DOJ if Ateneo ball boys, managers included in raps

MANILA, Philippines — It is up to the Department of Justice (DOJ) whether it will include the student managers and ball boys in the hazing charges against several Ateneo de Manila University men’s basketball team officials, Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla said.

In a press briefing in Camp Crame on Monday, Remulla explained that Republic Act No. 11053, or the Anti-Hazing Act, penalizes “all officers of the… organization who are actually present during the hazing.”

“Although this is our recommendation, some participants in the activity may still be removed from the list of those to be charged, especially if they can show that they did not know the activity’s ulterior motives,” he explained in Filipino.

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“The student manager and ball boys may be made witnesses instead of accused by the Department of Justice,” he added.

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READ: Hazing raps pushed vs Ateneo ex-coach, staff

Last Friday, the Department of the Interior and Local Government recommended that resigned Ateneo men’s basketball head coach Tab Baldwin and 10 others be charged for violating the Anti-Hazing Act in connection with the fatal drowning of players Rene Baterbonia and Divine Adili during a training activity in Aurora.

Among the recommended respondents were student managers Paolo Adevoso and Andrew Salud; and utility/ball boys Aris Pronce and Joel Rapa.

Media reports over the weekend said Pronce’s daughter, Mae, questioned her father’s inclusion in the list of recommended respondents in the case, maintaining that he had no role in the planning or approval of the Aurora activity.

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“This (the inclusion of the student managers and ball boys) was based on the Anti-Hazing Act being a special law, in which all those present during the hazing are considered involved in the crime,” Remulla explained in Filipino.

“Under this law, the mere presence of any person during the hazing is prima facie evidence of participation as a principal,” he added. /mcm

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