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Philippine police battalion sacked over brutal hazing of recruits
Purported to instill mental and physical toughness and help recruits deal with pressure and danger, the rites have become so brutal that they have led to numerous deaths in the Philippines
- PUBLISHED: Tue 10 Feb 2026, 12:47 PM
An entire police battalion in the Philippines was sacked over alleged hazing and maltreatment of police recruits in the country’s Muslim region. Authorities acknowledged the incident and vowed independent investigations against the perpetrators.
The incident took place last week at the police headquarters in Lamitan City, Basilan province, where at least 129 recruits suffered punches, blows with wooden sticks, as well as other forms of punishment, official reports said. It was allegedly part of their initiation into the Philippine National Police (PNP), a video of which went viral online.
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PNP spokesperson Brig. Gen. Randulf Tuaño announced the suspension from active duty of the entire police battalion responsible for the training, the Bangsamoro Administrative Region Mobile Force Battalion 14B.
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“All members of the Regional Mobile Force Battalion 14B were removed and replaced with members of 14A. So, all of them, 70 plus, were administratively relieved,” Tuaño said, adding the recruits identified 12 police non-commissioned officers as among the perpetrators, while a PRO BAR police report identified five police corporals, five patrolmen, and other John Does as suspects.
Illegal hazing tradition
Recruited from the Philippines’ poorest families, police as well as military recruits are forced to undergo hazing that has become traditional, albeit illegal and secretive, initiation rites.
Purported to instill mental and physical toughness in recruits and prepare them to deal with danger and extreme pressures, the rites have become so brutal that they have led to numerous deaths in the Philippines throughout generations.
The latest PNP death during initiation rites was that of Jaypee De Guzman Ramores on July 26, 2022, which sparked the investigation of 21 officers while the previous Philippine Military Academy hazing death was of Cadet Darwin Dormitorio in 2019, which led to the conviction of three of his upperclassmen.
Barbaric tradition
While hazing has been made a criminal offense through Philippine Republic Act No. 11053 (the Anti-Hazing Act of 2018) it has been largely ignored in PNP and AFP “welcoming” and “graduating” rites.
The brutal tradition has permeated and persisted among criminology, maritime and trainings of reserved officers throughout the Philippines.
The hazing-related murder of a college student, University of Santo Tomas’s reserved officers cadet Mark Welson Chua in 2001, led to the abolition of mandatory Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) in the country.
Philippine human rights group, Karapatan, strongly condemned the brutal hazing of the trainees, saying the rites instil a violent mindset and culture among the Philippine police.
“[It] disregards basic rights and human dignity,” Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay told Khaleej Times, underscoring "violence against police and military recruits during training teaches them to become eventually violent even when dealing with the civilian populace.
