The passion of Cris

It wasn’t a friendship at all. It’s just a casual relationship between two students who happened to have the same subject this semester, classmates who were complete strangers to each other. They met twice a week, shared a few blanks glances, but never talked to each other.

This is how I would describe the connection between me and Cris Mendez. If you are a student of the University of the Philippines or updated with current events, you know where I’m driving at. But for the benefit of all, Cris is the latest victim of frat-related violence, particularly hazing. Although investigations are still ongoing and hazing is but a vague idea in the news, as of this writing, here in the UP community such assertions are pretty easy to verify and almost out in the sunshine with evidences just floating around the campus.

When I read about Cris’ death on the newspaper, I hardly gave it a moment’s notice thinking it was just one of those campus crimes focusing on the gory details for the sake of human interest. It was only during our long exam, five days after the incident, that the news sunk in. All of a sudden, I realized that the person on the headlines was Cris, my classmate in Geography, the friendly guy with the generous smiles, a natural leader in and out of the classroom. His face kept flashing in my mind while taking the test. I was disturbed. I did not get the solution right in the problem solving.

Hazing is a traitor. It serves as a bridge to the other side of the mountain but is hanging by a thread. Unfortunately for Cris, his comrades made it to the other side safely, except for him when the bridge finally snapped. I can’t imagine how he, with his skin and bone figure, suffered in the hands of those who tortured him. I’ve watched films showing how initiation rites were conducted, but the thought of experiencing those by someone you knew was spine-chilling. Though Cris wasn’t the first to be victimized by such cruel acts, he gave me the impression that people would breach any barrier, even if it meant gambling their lives, just so they could belong.

Under R.A. 8049, hazing and any other forms of initiation rites in fraternities, sororities, or organizations are strictly prohibited and punishable by reclusion perpetua or life imprisonment. But even this law is toothless, since everything forbidden here is very much prevalent in places where tribes thrive. Come to think of it, how could it probably have teeth if having a fraternity or sorority is a prerequisite to entering a law school? I don’t know the statistics but many law students, if not all, in UP belong to one backing them up. Ninoy Aquino and Ferdinand Marcos, two great lawyers in Philippine history, used to be brods in the same fraternity. What else could we draw from this if that was the case? Go figure.

Maybe it was one of Cris’ plans to become a lawyer someday, knowing he was a Public Administration student. I would not really know. What is certain is that to be great, one must first have a group to belong to. History proves what I’m saying is true: Ninoy and Macoy is one. Jose Rizal had La Liga Filipina. Andres Bonifacio had the Katipunan. Adolf Hitler had the Nazis. Mother Teresa had her Missionaries of Charity. Jesus Christ had his apostles (and disciples) with him. Even fictional characters have it. Ali Baba had his Forty Thieves. Voldemort and Dumbledore in the Harry Potter series had their Death Eaters and Order of the Phoenix respectively.

I am not trying to sensationalize the issue. It’s just that Cris either wanted greatness or he wanted to belong, or both. And I could not blame him for that—not especially now that he is gone. I believe it is instinctive for a human being to have inkling for greatness, more so for a sense of belongingness. Only some of us don’t get these things easily. Like Cris and other icons in history, some have to sacrifice a lot, sometimes even with their lives.

Every time I look at Cris’ face, in my mind or in his photographs over the news, I can’t help but feel sorry for him. He is the same age as I am. Both of us are graduating students. We both want to be responsible leaders someday. It is so frustrating to have lost somebody who had huge potentials in becoming great in the future. If somebody like me, who is not related to him at all, could feel so low this much, what about his friends and his family?

Though distressing enough, I can still bear to see images of Cris. But, please, don’t let me have to look, even at a glance, at his mother’s face.