By Ivy Marie Mangadlao
Correspondent
BUTUAN City ― A lawmaker from the province of Agusan del Norte is pursuing a house hearing on the death of a Philippine Merchant Marine Academy (PMMA) cadet who is believed to have died of hazing.
Rep. Lawrence Fortun, on Monday, filed House Resolution 1953 to direct the committee on higher and technical education to investigate the death of the PMMA cadet Jonash Bondoc.
“The death of Jonash is mired with suspicious circumstances, and should not be allowed to pass without a truly independent, fair, impartial, and comprehensive investigation,” Fortun said.
Fortun pointed out that the death of the PMMA cadet was not a mere case of homicide and that the case should not be declared closed.
He also admitted that he was in shock when the provincial Philippine National Police had already released a statement two days after the date that the case was already closed after the supposed lone culprit already admitted to the crime.
Fortun still hopes that the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) will conduct its own investigation to shed more light on the death of the cadet.
“You do not limit your investigation into finding out who did it, that’s a very shallow kind of investigation, you also need to investigate why they did it, why they are able to do it, and who allowed them to do it,” he added.
Fourth Class Jonash Bondoc, 19, was found unresponsive inside the restroom of the academy’s barracks in Zambales around 6:30 am on July 6.
He was immediately brought to the nearby San Marcelino District Hospital but was declared dead on arrival.
Based on the medico-legal findings of Zambales City Crime Laboratory Office provided by Bondoc’s family, the cause of death is due to blunt traumatic injury on the back of his head.
Midshipman Cadet 2nd class Jomel Gloria confessed that he punched him during a “traditional recognition” of Mindanao’s underclass cadets.
Gloria has been arrested and charged with homicide but was released on bail.
The Students’ Alliance for the Advancement of Democratic Rights in Mindanao State University - Iligan Institute of Technology (Stand-IIT) also expressed their condemnation of the untimely demise of Bondoc.
“We urge the national government to not only look into the death of one, but of hundreds before him and put an end to the root cause of this incident that is the perpetuation of cultures of macho-fascism and impunity,” Stand-IIT said on its social media post.
Kabataan Rep. Sarah Elago has also called for an investigation of the incident.
“The fight for justice and accountability does not end here. Kabataan Partylist joins the call for an urgent and independent probe into the death of Jonash Bondoc,” Elago tweeted with #JusticeForJonashBondoc.
The Union of Progressive Students, a socio-political organization in the University of the Philippines Cebu, also called for an end to what it described as an “abuse in military training academies.”
“We stand in solidarity with the family and friends of Jonash Bondoc in calling for #JusticeForJonashBondoc and all the victims of hazing, bullying, brutality, and any form of injustice in military training academies,” the group said.
Glaiza Bondoc, sister of Jonash, urges the National Bureau of Investigation and Commission on Higher Education to have an independent investigation regarding this matter.
“We really want justice for the death of our brother, because it’s like he was being robbed of his dream, this has been his dream for so long and he really wanted to become a captain. We want to bring justice,” Glaiza said in an interview.
She added that their family respects that the PMMA is also doing their investigation but for the sake of an impartial investigation, they also want the other independent body to come in also.
Bondoc was laid to rest in a private cemetery in Butuan City on Tuesday at 10:00 am.
