Sigma Rho

The two letters of the Greek alphabet are its emblems for the stature of its members as "Seekers of the Right".[1][7] The Greek initials also stand for the initials of Sanchez Roman, a Spanish jurist whose scholarly commentaries on the Civil Code of Spain were authoritative references used by the students of the UP College of Law.[8] Members of the fraternity were called "Comrades", while the fraternity’s presiding officer was called "Grand Archon", which means Chief Magistrate in ancient Greece. The treasurer was referred to as the Custodian of Funds.[9]

Sigma Rho was founded by Charter Members Pacifico Agcaoili, Constantino Borja, Rodolpho Frayre, Joaquin Gonzales, Tiburcio V. Hilario, George V. McClure (an American Law student who was the first Grand Archon in 1939), Angel Medina, Carlos Ramos, Luciano Salazar (who later assisted Alexander SyCip in creating the law firm Sycip and Salazar), Antonio Moran Sison, Narceo Zambrano (who was the Grand Archon in 1940).[10]

The Charter Adviser was then professor and later Court of Appeals Justice Magno Gatmaitan.[10][11]

The fundamental law of the fraternity is that "The word of the Grand Archon is Law". Its hierarchy of loyalty is the following: first is God, second is country, third is family, fourth is the University of the Philippines, fifth is the University of the Philippines College of Law, and sixth is Sigma Rho. Meanwhile, its vows are sacrifice, loyalty, obedience, and service.[11]

From 1991-1994, Sigma Rho was involved in a total of 32 reported violent incidents between fraternities in the UP campus.[12]

In 1994, a Sigma Rho member died due to severe head injuries after he was attacked unexpectedly inside the Diliman campus by members of the Scintilla Juris fraternity.[13] In 2019, the five UP students convicted for the murder were released from prison.[14]

In 1999, a UP student was killed inside the Diliman campus in an incident involving Sigma Rho and Scintilla Juris.[15] Investigators suspected that he was caught in the violence after being mistaken for a being member of the latter fraternity.[16]

In 2000, a member of Alpha Phi Beta was killed in a fight with members of Sigma Rho in front of UP Law Center.[17] In 2008, the three students involved in the incident pleaded not guilty to the homicide charge.[18]

In 2007, a graduating UP student allegedly died during an initiation with Sigma Rho.[19] In 2016, the Court of Appeals affirmed a decision allowing the preliminary inquiries conducted by the university prosecutor against students who were allegedly involved in the incident to proceed.[20]

In 2019, a member died after an exposé on alleged hazing-related conversations among the Sigma Rho members was published online.[21]