Mark Chua

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Mark Chua or Mark Welson Chua (died sometime between March 15-18, 2001) was a student of the University of Santo Tomas (in the Philippines) whose death is widely believed to be linked to his exposé of alleged irregularities in the ROTC Unit of the university. His death became the catalyst for the passage of Republic Act 9163 or the "National Service Training Program (NSTP)" Law, which removed completion of mandatory ROTC as a precondition for graduation for male college students.

Chua was a member of his ROTC Unit's intelligence monitoring team. He spilled out to UST's official publication The Varsitarian about his first-hand knowledge of corruption in the unit. This resulted into the relief of then commandant Major Demy Tejares and his staff.

Chua received death threats after his revelations. The new ROTC commandant advised him to undergo security training at Fort Bonifacio. On March 15, 2001, he was supposed to "meet" an agent but he was never seen alive again. Three days later, his decomposing body wrapped in a carpet floated in the dirty waters of Pasig River, with his hands and feet tied and face wrapped in cloth and packing tape. The autopsy report showed a sludge in his lungs, indicating he was alive when he was thrown into the river.

On March 31, 2004, Arnulfo Aparri, one of the four suspects in the killing of Chua, was sentenced to die by lethal injection, and was ordered to pay 50,000 Philippine pesos to the victim's family. The whereabouts of the three other suspects (Eduardo Tabrilla, Paul Joseph Tan, and Michael Von Rainard Manangbao) are unknown.