3 suspects in ‘Darwin Dormitorio case’ found guilty of murder, anti-hazing law

Baguio City, Philippines - A Baguio court has found three cadets of the Philippine Military Academy guilty of murder and of violating the anti-hazing law relative to the death of Darwin Dormitorio in 2019.

In the court decision made by Judge Maria-Ligaya Itliong-Rivera on Friday, August 16, Shalimar Imperial Jr. and Felix Lumbag Jr. were found “guilty beyond reasonable doubt” for the murder case filed against them.

As for Julius Carlo Tadena, he was determined “guilty beyond reasonable doubt” by the court for violating the Anti-Hazing Law.

They were all sentenced to "reclusion perpetua" or a maximum sentence of 40 years in jail.

To recall, it was also in 2023 that Tadena and Christian Zacarias were found guilty by the Baguio Municipal Trial Court in Cities Branch 1 of “slight physical injuries" relative to the case.

However, former PMA Station Hospital Chief Lt. Col. Ceasar Candelaria and medical officers Capt. Flor Apple Apostle and Maj. Maria Ofelia Beloy were acquitted of reckless imprudence resulting in homicide charges against them.

The death of 4th class cadet Darwin Dormitorio

It was on September 17, 2019, when then-20-year-old plebe Darwin Dormitorio was diagnosed with a urinary tract infection at the PMA hospital. Following a four-hour observation, he was discharged from the hospital but a few hours later, he started vomiting at their barracks.

Early morning the following day, he was found unconscious in his room. He was brought to the hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival. He was the first casualty of hazing after the signing of a tougher anti-hazing law in 2018.