BAGUIO CITY – A Regional Trial Court (RTC) here sentenced on Friday three former Philippine Military Academy (PMA) cadets to up to 40 years for murder and hazing of a 20-year old cadet in 2019.
In a 42-page decision, Baguio City RTC Branch 5 presiding judge Maria Ligaya Itliong-Rivera found former cadets Shalimar Imperial Jr. and Felix Lumbag Jr. guilty of murder; and former cadet Julius Tadena guilty of violation of Republic Act 11053 or the anti-hazing law for the death of 4th Class Darwin Dormitorio.
Imperial and Lumbag were also ordered to pay PHP3 million each and to jointly and solidarily indemnify the victim’s family and pay moral and temperate damages, on top of the PHP275,000 legal fees.
Tadena was ordered to pay a fine of PHP2 million.
Dormitorio died at the PMA Station Hospital on Sept. 18, 2019, a day after he was found unconscious inside the cadet’s barracks in Mayo Hall inside the PMA in Fort del Pilar.
Initial investigation conducted by the Baguio City Police Office, which obtained jurisdiction over the case, found that the victim received “physical punishment” from upper classmen after losing a boot.
Several other cadets were implicated in the case, including military officers and a military doctor.
On Aug. 4, 2023, a municipal trial court (MTC) here rendered its initial decision, convicting Tadena and cadet Christian Zacarias to 30 days and to pay moral damages of PHP100,000 and PHP50,000 attorney’s fees.
The MTC acquitted other officers of reckless imprudence resulting in homicide. (PNA)
