To the murderers of Guillo: Live a meaningful life

Kat Uytiepo

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To the murderers of Guillo: Live a meaningful life
In a just world, Guillo would get the justice he deserves. But the reality is we are living in a world where thieves brush shoulders with saints, and murderers slip into the guise of 'brothers'

I do not know how to address you, since I don’t know your names. Murderers? Thieves? I know those are “big” words, but don’t get angry yet. Let me explain why those names suit you very well.

First, you gave Guillo Servando more than 100 beatings using a paddle and a belt. One blow is enough to make a normal person flinch. Two may make a person scream. Three may make a person fall to the ground. Four may make a person writhe in pain while screaming. Five. Six. Seven….What about a hundred? A hundred and ten? Oh, a hundred and ten is enough to end a life, as we have recently seen. People with a normal capacity for empathy would have stopped at 10 or 20. But Guillo had to endure your beatings up to the hundred and tenth blow, and he did. Okay, so why does that make you a murderer?

You used deliberate violence against Guillo.

People who use deliberate violence are murderers.

Therefore, you are murderers.

But why are you thieves? You may be wondering.

Well, by ending his life at 18, you stole his dreams, you stole everything from him. Good times. Bad times. Everything that makes life worth enduring. Also, you stole a lifetime of memories with Guillo from us – his family and friends. You also stole our peace. We used to be a normal family. Now we’re a family who lost a member to a tragedy. Family reunions will never be the same again. We will have to do our best to ignore the Guillo-shaped hole in our world, and nothing can come close to filling that up.

You stole the life of Guillo.

Someone who steals is a thief.

Therefore, you are thieves.

In a just world, Guillo would get the justice he deserves. An eye for an eye. A hundred and ten beatings for 110 beatings. A life for a life. Murderers and thieves behind bars. But as previous hazing cases have shown, this world is anything but just. The reality is we are living in a world where thieves brush shoulders with saints, and murderers slip into the guise of brothers. (READ: Death and brotherhood)

We do not know the real reason why Guillo joined your frat, but I don’t blame him. He chose to be recruited into your “brotherhood,” and no one can blame him for wanting to belong. Each of us strives for a sense of belongingness. We evolved that way. Hundreds and thousands of years of being in the wild made us evolve into a collective society. The greater number, the better to defend ourselves from external threats. Isn’t that what you sell? “Join us, and we will defend you from your enemies! But first you have to humiliate yourself and get beaten up by us for our own entertainment.” (I wonder what packaging you used. What effective marketing team you have!)

Okay, so certainly fraternities are not the best choice for company, but I don’t blame Guillo for wanting to have friends, for wanting to have YOU as friends – what with your fancy cars and all. It was not a wise decision. But don’t we all make stupid decisions all the time? This just happened to be his last.

So, my dear murderers and thieves, I am not writing this to make you feel miserable. Although of course, you are welcome to feel as miserable as you’d like. I am not also writing this to beg you to surrender. That would surely save us a lot of trouble, but that is not the reason why I am writing this.

What I would like you to do, my dear murderers and thieves, should you ever decide never to surrender, is to live a meaningful life.

Learn how to make people smile. Have a hearty laugh ready for everyone. Have the guts to walk up to a girl and say you like her. And then give her a reason to smile every hour. Text her incessantly. Annoy her into loving you back, because you know only you can treat her like a princess, and you will. Oh, be good at teasing your sister if you have one! That will make her love you forever. Also, don’t be afraid to text your favorite cousin that you miss him. He might not say it back, but don’t let that disappoint you. He just has a different love language than you.

Work towards your dream. Never give up, never surrender. You can even start your own gym if you’d like. And go to South Korea! I’m sure you will enjoy that very much.

And take note of this because this is very important: Let your mother and father treat you as though they might lose you any moment. You might always complain that they love you too much, but you see, they just don’t want their favorite child to be hurt by other people. Just endure their sweetness. If you had not killed Guillo, he could have given you a good piece of advice on that. – Rappler.com

Kat Uytiepo, 20, is the cousin of Guillo Cesar Uytiepo Servando. She is a student from De La Salle University-Manila.

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