MANILA, Philippines – A third cadet from the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) who showed signs of hazing was brought to the hospital on Tuesday, September 24.

Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Spokesperson Brigadier General Edgard Arevalo said the cadet, who was not named,  “bore signs of maltreatment”and was taken to the AFP Medical Center in Quezon City on Tuesday, or nearly a week after the fatal hazing of Cadet 4th Class Darwin Dormitorio.

The cadet is “ambulant” or able to move on his own. He was confined a first time when he complained of abdominal pain similar to gastroenteritis, Arevalo said.

However, the cadet’s symptoms persisted, which was why he was again brought to hospital on Tuesday. That was when he was found to bear signs of “maltreatment,” or hazing.

On Monday, September 23, the AFP said two PMA cadets were hospitalized for injuries they may have sustained from hazing.

Arevalo said these two cadets were in stable condition and responded well to medication.

“They were coherent,” when Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana visited them on Monday, Arevalo added.

PMA officials are investigating the case of these 3 cadets.

Dormitorio was found unconscious before dawn on September 18 in a room at the PMA campus in Fort General Gregorio del Pilar in Baguio City. He died over an hour later at the PMA Station Hospital, of cardiac arrest secondary to internal bleeding.

The PMA had acknowledged that the 20-year-old plebe was “maltreated” – or subjected to hazing – and had sanctioned cadets responsible for the incident, and officers under whose watch it happened.

PMA Superintendent Lieutenant General Ronnie Evangelista, and Commandant of Cadets Brigadier General Bartolome Vicente Bacarro resigned on Tuesday, citing command responsibility. 

The PMA has denounced the practice of hazing,  and said it would review its policies and systems to prevent it from happening again. – Rappler.com