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Hazing News

Hazing deaths from brutality are unending in Philippines

Latest death is a cadet,

MANILA – The Philippine Military Academy (PMA) said Sunday it would file administrative and criminal charges for those liable in the death of hazing victim Darwin Dormitorio last week.

Dormitorio, 20, had bruises on his stomach consistent with hazing, according to the Philippine National Police (PNP).

“The PNP investigation has already concluded that it is maltreatment. The PMA is ready to file appropriate charges, administrative and criminal charges to those who are involved,” PMA spokesperson Maj. Ray Afan told ANC.

Afan said the PMA will leave “no stone unturned” in its investigation into the cadet’s death.

“All the administrative lapses… will be reviewed for this not to happen again,” he said. “We have also directed all persons involved to directly coordinate and cooperate with the respective investigations.”

The academy does not condone maltreatment among its ranks, Afan stressed.

By Hank Nuwer

Journalist Hank Nuwer tracks hazing deaths in fraternities and schools. Nuwer is the Alaska author of Hazing: Destroying Young Lives; Broken Pledges: The Deadly Rite of Hazing, High School Hazing, Wrongs of Passage and The Hazing Reader. In April of 2024 and April 2025 , the Alaska Press Club awarded him first place in the Best Columnist division and Best Humorist, second place.

He has written articles or columns on hazing for the Sunday Times of India, Toronto Globe & Mail, Harper's Magazine, Orlando Sentinel, The Chronicle of Higher Education and the New York Times Sunday Magazine. His current book is Hazing: Destroying Young Lives from Indiana University Press. He is married to Malgorzata Wroblewska Nuwer of Warsaw, Poland and Fairbanks, Alaska. Nuwer is a former columnist for the Greenville (Ohio)Early Bird and former managing editor of the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner in Alaska.
Nuwer was named the Ohio Society of Professional Journalists columnist of the year in 2021 for his “After Darke” column in the Early Bird. He also won third place for the column in 2022 from the Indiana chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. He and his wife Gosia, recently of Union City, Ind., have owned 20 acres in Alaska for many years. “The move is a sort-of coming home for us,” said Nuwer. As a journalist, he’s written about the Alaskan Iditarod sled-dog race and other Alaska topics. Read his musings in his blog at Real Alaska Daily--http://realalaskadaily.com and in his weekly column "Far from Randolph" in the Winchester Star-Gazette of Randolph County, Indiana.

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