The Municipal Trial Court for Cities Branch 1 in Baguio City has found cadet third class Julius Carlo Tadena and cadet second class Christian Zacarias guilty of slight physical injuries related to the fatal hazing of fellow cadet Darwin Dormitorio from Cagayan de Oro in September 2019. Presiding Judge Roberto Mabalot sentenced both Tadena and Zacarias to 30 days imprisonment and also ordered to pay P100,000 moral damages and P50,000 attorney’s fee.
Meanwhile, military doctors Capt. Apple Apostol, Major Ofelia Beloy, and Col. Caesar Almer Candelaria, were acquitted of the charge of reckless imprudence resulting in homicide.
It can be recalled that the 20-year old Dormitorio was found unconscious in one of the rooms of the PMA Mayo Hall in Fort del Pilar on September 17, 2019. He was taken to the hospital but expired the following day, September 18.
Read the decision below (from Northern Dispatch FB page.
Two other principal suspects – third-class cadets Felix Lumbag Jr. and Shalimar Imperial Jr., both under military custody, are also still facing murder and hazing charges related to Dormitorio’s death.
