Court finds 2 PMA cadets guilty of murder, 1 for hazing in Darwin Dormitorio case

A Baguio Court has found two cadets of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) guilty of murder, while another one was convicted of hazing in connection to the death of Darwin Dormitorio in September 2019, his family said Friday.

A portion of the decision shared by Dormitorio’s brother, Dexter, showed that the Baguio Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 5 found Shalimar Imperial Jr. and Felix Lumbag Jr. guilty of violation of the Anti-Hazing Act of 2018 and murder.

Meanwhile, the Court found Julius Carlo Tadena guilty of violating the Anti-Hazing Act.

All three were sentenced to reclusion perpetua or up to 40 years of imprisonment.

The RTC also gave Imperial and Lumbag a fine of P3 million each for hazing.

It also ordered them to jointly and solidarily pay Dormitorio’s heirs P75,000 as civil indemnity, P75,000 as moral damages, P25,000 as temperate damages, and P100,000 as attorney’s fees.

“All these amounts shall earn 6% interest per annum from the finality of this decision until fully paid,” it said.

Meanwhile, Tadena was given a fine of P2 million.

Meanwhile, Atty. Adrian Bonifacio, the legal counsel of the family welcomed the decision.

"We dedicate the win to Darwin and his father Col. William Dormitorio. Incidentally, Col. Dormitorio died before the decision was released," he told reporters.

"I pray that Darwin and his father will finally have peace," he added.

Dormitorio died at the PMA Hospital on September 18, 2019, a day after he was diagnosed with urinary tract infection.

READ: 'Darwin Dormitorio’s last days and final hours'

He was unconscious, unresponsive, and no longer had vital signs when he was brought to the hospital. Dormitorio's eyes no longer moved. His lips and nails were also already blue.

Dormitorio's chest, stomach, side, and back all had bruises.

He was given cardio-pulmonary resuscitation but was later declared dead.

The diagnosis was cardiopulmonary arrest probably secondary to blunt thoracoabdominal injury probably to mauling. 

In 2023, a Baguio Municipal Trial Court found Tadena and Zacarias guilty of “slight physical injuries.”

—VAL, GMA Integrated News