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BY ADRIAN STEWART CO and PRINCE GOLEZ
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Thursday, October 26, 2017
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MANILA – A primary suspect in the death of Horacio Castillo III claimed that the law freshman from the University of Santo Tomas died not from hazing but due to a preexisting heart ailment.
But Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri believes John Paul Solano was lying and covering up for his fellow Aegis Jvris fraternity members.
Solano said the medicolegal report of the Manila Police District indicated that Castillo had a hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, or HCM, a genetic heart disease that causes the thickening of the heart muscle.
“From my study as a licensed medical technologist, HCM could not have been caused by hazing or any physical activity. Patients with HCM have an increased risk [of] cardiac failure,” he said.
“Thus, if it is true that Castillo died of cardiac arrest, his death is not due to hazing, but he died of cardiac arrest due to HCM,” he added. “The official police report on the victim’s death had absolutely no finding … regarding the cause of death.”
Solano also insisted that he was not around at the initiation rites and was only invited by another fraternity member, Oliver John Onofre, when Castillo collapsed.
In an earlier testimony Solano claimed he was just a concerned citizen who found Castillo’s body in Tondo district and brought it to the Chinese General Hospital.
Later he turned himself in to the MPD and admitted to lying in his testimony on the order of fellow Aegis Jvris members. He also tagged to the crime six other fraternity members in a Senate executive session.
‘LIES’
Zubiri would have none of Solano’s claims.
“Clearly, Solano is lying through his teeth, covering up for his frat brods like a criminal syndicate member,” said Zubiri. “He should be punished as well for conspiracy, obstruction of justice and perjury.”
Solano’s claim that Castillo had a heart disease appeared absurd considering that the latter was a “football player of Colegio San Agustin,” Zubiri said.
“How can they explain the discoloration of the body due to massive hematoma?” the senator said, adding that the medicolegal test also found Castillo’s DNA on the paddle used by Aegis Jvris.
Earlier Sen. Joel Villanueva said that there were attempts to cover up Castillo’s death and that he was tempted to cite Aegis Jvris members in contempt.
“These guys should realize that they are getting the ire of the senators,” Villanueva said, citing how they evade questions.
FRAT BROD UNDER DOJ PROTECTION
In a related development, the Department of Justice has admitted into its witness protection program under “provisional acceptance” an Aegis Jvris member present during Castillo’s initiation.
Mark Ventura was one of the respondents in several criminal complaints the MPD and Castillo’s parents filed.
“Mr. Ventura’s decision to seek admission into our WPP is a most welcome development in this case as we all endeavor to give justice to Atio’s untimely demise,” Justice secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II told a news conference on Wednesday, calling Castillo by his nickname.
Ventura “narrated to us what he knew about what happened to [Castillo], from the time of his admission as a neophyte of the Aegis Juris fraternity until his initiation rites on the early morning of Sept. 17,” Aguirre said.
Moreover, he “gave us the names of the persons present during the initiation rites,” the secretary said. “After hearing the narration … I immediately decided to place [Ventura] under provisional acceptance into the WPP.”
Ventura and 17 other Aegis Jvris members were facing charges for murder; violation of Republic Act 8049, the law that regulates hazing; perjury; robbery; and obstruction of justice./PN
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