PNP-CIDG Recommends Hazing Charges Against Basketball Team Coaches, Staff

MANILA — The Philippine National Police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) has recommended filing criminal charges against several coaches and staff members of a basketball team for alleged violations of the Anti-Hazing Act of 2018.

During a joint press briefing, Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Juanito Victor Remulla announced that the PNP-CIDG has endorsed the evaluation, case build-up, and preliminary investigation of the matter to the Department of Justice.

"Ang Anti-Hazing Act ay revised na po 'yan… Ang dati pong iniisip natin, ang hazing ay initiations lamang. Ngunit dito, ang team-building at training ay nag-cross over papunta sa hazing," Remulla explained.

(The Anti-Hazing Act has already been revised... What we previously thought of as hazing was limited to initiations only. But here, the team-building and training crossed over into hazing.)

The individuals recommended for prosecution include head coach Thomas Anthony Baldwin, strength and conditioning coaches Grant Dearns and Ceasar Vincent Javellana Elumba, and assistant coaches Dean Caesar B. Castaño, Sandro Nicholas Romero Soriano, and Reynaldo C. Jacinto Jr. Several student managers, a physical therapist, and utility personnel have also been named in the complaint.

Remulla emphasised that under Republic Act 11053, hazing is not strictly limited to traditional initiation rites. He noted that in this particular instance, standard team-building activities and training exercises had crossed the line into illegal practices.

According to the amended law, hazing encompasses any act that results in physical or psychological suffering, harm, or injury inflicted upon a recruit, neophyte, applicant, or member as a prerequisite for admission or as a requirement for continued membership in an organisation.

The DILG Secretary stated that the case should serve as a strict warning to all groups and sports teams across the country, reinforcing the reality of the illegal practice.

"Hazing is not only initiations," Remulla warned. "Hazing can occur in any organisation."