MARCH 9, 2026 — Another young life has been snuffed out in the name of “brotherhood.” Nineteen-year-old maritime student Mark Kenneth Alcedo died after enduring initiation rites of the Tau Gamma Phi fraternity in Dasmariñas City. His death is not an isolated case — it’s part of a bloody tradition that has haunted campuses for decades. And now, Senior Citizens party-list Rep. Rodolfo Ordanes is demanding that hazing be treated not just as a heinous crime, but as organized crime.

Ordanes fired off, saying “The Philippine National Police (PNP) and National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) should treat hazing cases as organized crimes because they are perpetrated in methodical and organized ways. Hazing is not a mere murder committed by people. Every incident is committed by organized groups with well-defined hierarchy, roles and financial capacity and resources.” 

That’s a damning indictment, don’t you think? 

So why do we still allow fraternities to operate like shadowy syndicates?

The congressman even went further, calling out the Securities and Exchange Commission to suspend or revoke Tau Gamma Phi’s registration as a non-profit association. He wants fraternities to register with the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and local governments, arguing that barangays and schools have been negligent. 

“We are not surprised because many barangay officials and personnel are members of fraternities. There are also police officers who are fraternity members,” he pointed out.

If that doesn’t scream conflict of interest, what does?

Hazing thrives because of silence, complicity, and cowardice. Ordanes himself blasted schools and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) for evading responsibility. 

“These horrendous behaviors are institutional cowardice. Yes, they are coward,” he boldly said. 

Strong words — but isn’t he right? Universities pretend fraternities don’t exist, while students continue to bleed and die in their dorms and safe houses.

The bigger question is whether treating hazing as organized crime will actually change anything. Will police and prosecutors finally take these cases seriously if they’re classified alongside drug syndicates and human trafficking rings? Or will fraternity ties within government and law enforcement continue to shield perpetrators from accountability?

We have seen this cycle too many times: a death, a wave of outrage, promises of reform, and then silence … until the next victim. 

Parents bury their children, schools issue statements, lawmakers hold hearings — and yet the same groups march on, recruiting new members, planning the next “initiation.” 

If we’re honest, the system has failed. And unless hazing is dismantled at its roots, we’ll keep writing obituaries for students who never got the chance to live.

When hazing looks more like a criminal operation than a rite of passage, isn’t it time we ask if fraternities still belong in our campuses at all?

(Image: Yahoo)