(Eagle News) — The University of Sto. Tomas Faculty of Civil Law dean on Wednesday announced that the preventive suspension on Aegis Juris fraternity members had been lifted.
Nilo Divina made the announcement after police criticized his directive barring the fraternity members from entering the UST campus and from attending classes.
The police argued this only made it difficult for investigators to locate the fraternity members.
In a radio interview, Divina, a prominent member of the Aegis Juris fraternity, said it was “unfair” for the police to hurl such allegations.
He noted that UST has already given the names and addresses of members of the fraternity to the police.
“At any rate, we are lifting the preventive suspension immediately and we have further directed them to make themselves available for conferences and interviews by the proper committee and authorities,” he said.
The Aegis Juris fraternity is believed behind the death of Horacio Castillo III, a freshman law student at UST.
Authorities said Castillo died of massive trauma as a result of injuries they believe he sustained during hazing rites.
Police have named three “primary suspects”–John Paul Solano, Antonio Trangia and his son Ralph Trangia.
The police said Solano deliberately fed them false information to mislead them and cover up the crime.
Solano earlier claimed he found Castillo’s body on a pavement in Balut, Tondo, and that he did not know him.
He said he flagged down a vehicle and asked the help of bystanders to take the body to the Chinese General Hospital.
But barangay officials disputed his account, noting that there was no body in the area at the time Solano claimed he found it, based on footage from a closed-circuit television camera in the area.
According to the police, the elder Trangia was the registered owner of the red Strada that was used to take Castillo to the hospital.
The younger Trangia, the police said, is an officer of the Aegis Juris fraternity.
The police said all officers of the fraternity are also considered suspects based on the anti-hazing law.