Press Release - Fraternities and sisterhoods at the grassroots levels of barangays and neighborhoods are also covered by the Anti-Hazing Bill.
The definition of hazing in my House Bill 3467 focuses on the acts committed against the victim. It does not matter where the hazing is committed, as long as it is within the country and any place where Philippine laws apply.
In HB 3467 states that organizations covered include, but are not limited to, fraternities, sororities, and clubs. The schools mentioned in HB 3467 include any school in the country.
HB 3467 is pending in the House Committee on Justice where HB 2560, HB 3731, and HB 3963 also are and will be consolidated into one bill.
TV news and viral videos of street gangs have been recent cause for serious concern aside from the fraternities involving college students.
HB 3963 tasks local government officials, especially the barangays to be vigilant vis-a-vis fraternities and gangs in their areas of jurisdiction. HB 3963 has three sections (Sections 8, 9, and 10) which are about the registration and monitoring of comunity-based fraternities.
Out-of-school youth and students in junior high school and senior high school are especially prone to invites from frats and gangs.
Barangay and school principals must work together and apply their child protection policies effectively and pro-actively. They must be on the alert against frats and gangs that get involved in illegal drugs or resort to hold-ups of taxis and jeepneys as initiation rites for neophytes.
Neighborhood frats and gangs can also be used by organized crime engaged in human trafficking, illegal drugs, and prostitution of children and teenagers.
Crime syndicates are well aware of the minimum age of criminal responsibility stated in the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006. The link between neighborhood frats and gangs and juvenile crime is a clear and present danger to our communities.
Effective implementation of the consolidated Anti-Hazing measure in the House when it becomes a law will be another way for government to reduce crime in our, schools, streets and near our homes.
Linkback:
https://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?topic=87413.0