Two men were rescued from a brutal initiation ritual dubbed the “30-Second Massacre” in the town of Noveleta, Cavite, where they were repeatedly beaten as part of a group’s hazing rites. The violent incident led to the arrest of 10 persons, including four minors.
In Saleema Refran’s 24 Oras report on Wednesday, several men were seen surrounding one of the victims in video footage obtained by authorities. The victim, seen holding his chest, received a flurry of punches and kicks. The group appeared to be counting aloud during the attacks, believed to be part of the ritual.
According to Police Major Sandie Caparroso, chief of the Noveleta Municipal Police Station, the so-called “30-Second Massacre” is an initiation rite where a prospective member is physically attacked for half a minute.
“Yung tinawag nga nila yung pinaka-initiation rites na ’30-second massacre’ na kung saan pipili ang grupo ng mga miyembro at magsasagawa ng initiation—bubugbugin ang sasaling miyembro. Thirty seconds ‘yun na susuntukin siya sa iba’t ibang bahagi ng katawan,” Caparroso explained.
(They call it their main initiation rite the ’30-second massacre’ where the group selects new members and conducts an initiation by beating the prospective member. For 30 seconds, they punch him on different parts of the body.)
Following a tip-off, police quickly responded to the scene and discovered around 50 men gathered in a backyard in Barangay San Rafael Tres. Some were reportedly from other locations, including Cavite City and Tanza.
“Ang iba rito menor de edad. Nang tinanong namin kung anong meron, sabi nila may gathering lang sila or binyag. Pero base sa initial investigation, initiation rites ang ginagawa nila,” Caparroso added.
(Some of them are minors. When we asked what was going on, they said it was just a gathering or a baptism. But based on our initial investigation, they were conducting initiation rites.)
Ten individuals, including four minors, were taken into custody. Six adult suspects are now facing charges under the Anti-Hazing Law. Authorities said that these six also reportedly underwent the same initiation ritual. The suspects claimed they were not involved in any illegal activity and insisted their group’s purpose was for community service.
“Community service lang (only) sir, feeding program,” one of the suspects answered when asked of their group’s purpose.
They claimed they had no outstanding criminal cases.
The four minors are now under the care of the Municipal Social Welfare and Development Office.
Meanwhile, the two victims who reported the incident are recovering from their injuries. Police say they are coordinating with barangay officials and schools to prevent further recruitment of youths into such violent groups.
“We are trying to reach out sa ating mga barangay officials and schools kasi most of the time ito yung mga lugar kung saan nirerecruit yung mga kabataan (because most of the time, these are the places where the youth are being recruited),” Caparroso said.
Authorities are continuing their investigation and monitoring to identify other possible members and prevent similar incidents from happening. —Sherylin Untalan/RF, GMA Integrated News
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