A Baguio City Regional Trial Court (RTC) has found two former Philippine Military Academy (PMA) cadets guilty of murder and another former cadet guilty of hazing in connection with the death of then 4th Class Cadet Darwin Dormitorio from Cagayan de Oro in 2019. In a 42-page decision released today, August 16, Baguio RTC Branch 5 Presiding Judge Maria Ligata Itliong-Rivera convicted Shalimar Imperial, Jr. and Felix Lumbag, Jr. of murder and hazing, while Julius Carlo Tadena was found guilty of violating the Anti-Hazing Law. All three were sentenced to reclusion perpetua.
For the crime of murder, Imperial and Lumbag were also ordered to pay a fine of P3 million each. For the crime of hazing, they shall also indemnify the heirs of Dormitorio P75,000 as civil indemnity, P75,000 as moral damages and P25,000 as temperate damages, as well as P100,000 as attorney’s fees. Meanwhile, Tadena was also ordered to pay a fine of P2 million. Read part of the decision below.
