(Eagle News) — “My conscience is clear.”
University of Santo Tomas Civil Law Dean Nilo Divina had this to say on Wednesday after a Senate joint committee report said disbarment proceedings should be initiated against him over the death of hazing victim Horacio Castillo III.
“I did not do anything wrong, illegal or unethical,” Divina–who, according to the report should also resign–said in a statement.
According to Divina, he “did all (he) could have done under the circumstances to prevent incidents of hazing from happening during (his) watch as Dean of the UST Faculty of Civil Law.”
He reiterated that he had no knowledge of the hazing rites.
“Without such knowledge and having consistently cooperated with the authorities, I completely trust that I will not be unfairly dragged into any such case,” he said.
In any case, he said that he “understand(s) that as a Dean who happens to also be a member of the (Aegis Juris) fraternity, all (his) actions, despite conscious efforts on (his) part to be totally impartial, will naturally be subjected to extraordinary scrutiny.”
He said he “remain(s) confident of vindication regardless of the accusations hurled or charges that have been filed or may still be filed.”
“I will never allow the wrongdoings of some and the unfair accusations of a few to get in the way of my fulfilling my job as dean. I regret with all my heart what had happened to Atio but a wrong cannot be rectified by another injustice,” Divina said.
The report of the committees on public order and dangerous drugs, and on justice and human rights also recommended disbarment proceedings against several members of the Aegis Juris fraternity, which conducted the hazing rites that led to Castillo’s death in September 2017.
The report was signed by 16 senators.
