A father passed away before he could witness the judge’s verdict in his son’s fatal hazing case.
Darwin Dormitorio passed away in 2019 due to hazing under the hands of three upperclassmen: former Philippine Military Academy (PMA) cadets Shalimar Imperial Jr., Felix Lumbag Jr., and Julius Carlo Tadena.
Ever since then, the Dormitorio family has been fighting for justice.
Just a few weeks before a regional court in Baguio City handed down its guilty verdict against the three PMA cadets, William Dormitorio, the father of the hazing victim, passed away.
William, a retired Army lieutenant colonel and member of PMA Class of 1974, died due to cardiac arrest at the age of 75 in July. This unfortunate incident added to the tragic mourning of the Dormitorio family.
His son, Darwin, was only 20 years old in the PMA at the time. His death due to hazing was the first case since Anti-Hazing Act (R.A. 11053) was signed in 2018 by then-President Rodrigo Duterte.
Meanwhile, the three former PMA 3rd class cadets who were related to Darwin’s hazing case were found guilty on August 16.
Judge Ligaya Itliong-Rivera of the 5th branch of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) in Baguio convicted Imperial and Lumbag of murder while Tadena was found guilty of violating the anti-hazing law. All of them were sentenced to reclusion perpetua, which means 20 to 40 years of prison time.
