(Free Press editorial cartoon from the 1920s.)
Gentility is supposed to permeate places like country clubs and golf courses. They are the places where the hoi polloi are kept out and where everyone else can see and be seen. When someone like Bambee dela Paz and her family collide with official thugs, the collision isn’t just physical, it’s cultural. The set of rules that keeps the plebs in their place is never supposed to intrude into places where gentility matters.
But power, which relies on armed might to enforce obedience and simulate public respect, by it’s very nature isn’t genteel, can never be civil, will always ride roughshod over others.
I fully sympathize with dela Paz, her father, and her brother: bravo to her for raising hell and bravo to all those who’ve taken up her call for there to be consequences for what happened to them.
There is an irony here, of course: several, actually.
One irony is that gentility is the last thing that really matters in the supposed enclaves of the middle and upper classes, where the old days of black balling potential members because they were scandalous or generally socially unsavory individuals has long disappeared and been replaced by the sort of entitlement culture where mere possession of wealth or influence (the two are joined at the hip like Siamese twins) trumps all other considerations (how obtained and how used?) is what matters.
Another irony is that this incident could only have happened in the national capital, where an altercation in one place can safely be reported by someone when they get home: the metropolis is vast enough for you to be able to get away with blowing the whistle, everyone has kinship ties extended enough, at least among the middle and upper classes, to neutralize those belonging to those with whom you’ve collided.
There is a reason rallies tend to take place in national capitals; there is a reason a young lady can go and blog and have people rally to her cause in sympathy, both expecting something to be done and not having to think through whether the call and rallying to that call will have fatal consequences. It is the existence of a civic culture which is still powerful enough to compel limits on official impunity.
So we have here a clear clash of civilizations: between the entitlement and warlord culture of the provinces, which compels obedience by force, and which doesn’t hesitate to use that force to compel submission by anyone who isn’t part of the ruling clan’s pecking order of enforcers; and the national capital culture which expects self-control of officialdom, which doesn’t think twice about standing up to official bullying; which, even if beaten to a pulp thinks it’s possible to rally support from like-minded people who actually believe in justice and notions of equality -because there are more decent people than the bad.
Still another irony is that People Power is now being mobilized -its first stirrings being the sharing of officially embarrassing news, the stoking of popular outrage, the expression of public opinion, the coming together of a constituency mobilized by shared values- among the sort of people who’d shrugged off so many other acts of official impunity. There is a lesson here somewhere: and it’s a simple one. Impunity eventually sows the seeds of its own destruction. There will always come a time when a line will be crossed, and it’s a line too far.
Which is not to say that this incident will cause a revolution; but it is proof of how reality will always intrude into even the politest of conversations.
The coming year is going to be a showdown, of sorts, between the exponents of the culture of impunity, from the President to her allies on the official and local level. It is a showdown between those who furiously resent a political culture where public opinion matters, where impunity is challenged, and where privilege is supposed to be something subjected to questioning.
In Resistance isn’t futile, I mentioned just one way I oppose impunity: by blowing my horn at official convoys. This holiday season, I had the satisfaction of doing so, to the president’s convoy itself, twice. The second time around, the President passed within spitting distance and the PSG actually craned their necks to get a view at whoever was committing this act of lese majeste. They genuinely seemed startled. I myself was startled to see that the President no longer uses license plate No. 1 on her car. Her limousine has no license plate, at all.
My point is we see this impunity all the time, in small ways, and shrug it off -oddly enough, in the same manner we shrug off the big, spectacular, cases of impunity, too- when we ought to start tying it all together.
And their project next year is to basically abolish public opinion; to reduce it to its component local parts, where public opinion has been muted, and where it can be treated in such a way and such a manner as to be beyond questioning, court cases, heckling, letters to the editor or blog entries demanding resignations: because the trump card of an official when it comes to the provinces is the message every bodyguard represents: you can run, but you can’t hide.
Wait till the Nasser Pangandamans of this country are both members of parliament and ministers of state, ruling over Federal states where their writ is literally and not just figuratively, the law.
You’ve seen what has been unfolding over the past few years and what is out to entrench itself over the first quarter of this year.
The danger is to confuse the forest for the trees. We are susceptible to doing this: shrieking over Estrada’s threatening to run for office, while overlooking the President who cynically released him with a pardon; twisting Cory Aquino’s comments out of all recognition while overlooking how truly mistaken everyone was, to think the President would be a stateswoman and not a thug in skirts; wringing our hands over Mar Roxas’s cussing when no government since martial law has so thoroughly justified cussing because of it’s crossing every line, written or not, expected of officialdom; placing traffic and corporate premiums over public demonstrations of outrage; venomously scorning Jun Lozada while overlooking the officials who wanted him rubbed out and who very nearly managed to do it.
The Japanese had a chance to be welcomed to the Philippines, as they were in many other parts of Asia, as liberating heroes, except they proceeded to slap Filipinos who refused to bow to them; and so, resistance was immediately sparked, even among those disillusioned with the Allied cause. Again, I’m not saying this appalling incident will accomplish anything more than inspire horrified tut-tutting over how tasteless, and ungentlemanly, the President’s official family is. But you never know.
Postscript:
The incident seems destined to get bogged down in Court. Court is appropriate for determining the monentary compensation due the ones beaten up. The Court of Public Opinion is where this ought to be settled politically, and the political solution is twofold: the resignation of the Secretary of Agrarian Reform or his being fired if he refuses to quit; and the suspension of the Secretary’s son, the mayor, immediately. And if those currently angry really want to do something, then they belong to the circles of our society that can effectively embark on a campaign of social ostracism against not just Secretary-father and mayor-son, but, so long as no Executive action is taken, then against the entire official family of the President. This includes the children of officials who drive No. 8 cars to school, at any official beyond the handful mandated by Executive Order as entitled to official escorts, to officials who have more than one bodyguard, and so on.
Officials have quit or been made to resign elsewhere for much less.
Good reads: see Of Golf, the Internet and Elites, and We haven’t really gone anywhere and Piyudal
Kaminaman,
Btw, do you know what happened to the Caruncho case?
Salvador Reyes (the victim) executed an affidavit of desistance as he accepted Caruncho’s offer to settle it out of court!
“Salvador Reyes (the victim) executed an affidavit of desistance as he accepted Caruncho’s offer to settle it out of court! ” justice
Kitam, adi nuun pa ganuun na ang nangyayari! Bugbugan na iyan kalilimutan din laang. Manhid na yata ang mga Filipino sa mga iba’t ibang gulu.
here is another opinion from another blog:
So far, in the internet and news on televisions I’ve only heard dela paz side. Let’s not drop into conclusions and lets also hear the other side of the story which I myself think is much more relevant. There are many inconsistencies in dela paz’ stories that makes it even harder to believe them.
The dela Paz siblings should be banned from jungolf & all golf courses. They were a flight of two when the club prohibited it bacause it was a holiday. They went ahead & teed off + hit mulliganin hole 4 (par 3) w/o any warning when the flight of the Pangandamans was still walking to there balls to putt/pitch there 2nd shots. In hole 5 (par 4), they again teed off w/o warning when the Pangandaman players didn’t even hit their 2nd shots yet. The Pangandamans peacefully proceeded with their game. They told the club marshall that dela Paz flight can go ahead. Delfin dela paz went to Mayor Pangandaman, shouted “PI mo, hindi mo ba ako kilala, member ka ba dito?â€Â. dela Paz hit Mayor Pangandaman with his umbrella. The mayors older brother got the umbrella from dela Paz’ hand. dela Paz punched the Mayors brother . Bino dela Paz grabbed a golf club & hit the Mayor. The Pangandamans wanted to leave the golf club when another dela Paz group attacked the Pangandamans with bats & ice picks at the main club house. – Testimonies from witnesses will prove that dela paz clan are liars.
Mayor Nasser Pangandaman Jr. was awarded, “The Most Outstanding Mayor in RPâ€Â. Why will Mayor Pangandaman do something so low without being provoked? Delfin dela paz’ arrogance started the fight.
The de la Pazes are stupid enough to attack a government official with armed bodyguards with ice picks at the main club house? I could understand the initial altercation but a second one, with minimal “resbak?” And how incompetent is the mayor’s security if he wasn’t whisked away immediately.
“Why will Mayor Pangandaman do something so low without being provoked?”
The point is it doesn’t matter if he was provoked or not, HE DID SOMETHING LOW, which is unbecoming of a public official. Oh, and the “outstanding mayor” thing is what we call a non sequitur.
Bpga,
No one died then, no one died now (at least not yet).
It is the prerogative of the victim in both cases to determine if they will proceed or not with their cases.
Do you know who supported the victim back then?
Radio Veritas (of course), the city fiscal Sergio Apostol, and the Minister of Justice. And with the Minister of Justice supporting him, it was pretty sure it was with the blessings of President Marcos. I don’t think you can get a higher padrino than that.
Yet the victim chose to accept a compromise.
Just because victims will accept “such” a compromise (given the case) sooner or later doesn’t mean that they do not need support.
Pulis na pogi,
” all of a sudden, bambee, together with her mother ”
Though its best that Bambee De la Paz answer this allegation; I don’t think Bambee De la Paz nor her mother will be the complainant here against the Pangandamans.
Unless you also believe in guilt by association which in this case of just being a De la Paz.
Well at least we can expect a medical certificate for the Pangandaman side.
Good. More findings on those medical certificates for the Pangandaman side.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
One thing interesting about this though is that both sides are rather detailed on what the other side did but rather hedged on what their own side did.
When both versions are eventually reconciled, I think it would be a very interesting story.
Pulis na pogi,
Rejoinder.
If one looked at the story of Bambee De la Paz in her blog, one would surmise that her side got beaten up real bad.
Now if on the other hand one looks at the stories defending the Pangandamans like the story from you and Brianasal where you read of Hussein “washing his wounds” and Bambee “scratching Hussein on the right cheek, the neck, and ear, while pulling and tearing his shirt”; one would surmise that it is the Pangandamans that got beaten up
But only one side has shown proof lately that their side indeed got beaten up. And it is not the Pangandaman side.
As long as Hussein’s wounds are not on his knuckles , he should show those wounds already.
pulis na pogi? that’s a very arrogant screen name. it would be ok if there’s substance to your recent comment but it’s lacking common sense and values.
some people are not grasping the reality that there’s a gap between Rule of Law and Human rights abuses. It’s an endemic pattern- very widespread that only the middle class can blog about it and have the courage to ight for their rights. If the middle class will stop to care , who would fight for the Human Rights in this country and influence our laws? The Middle Class may be a minority in number but the publicity will reach the very poor. The middle class can bridge that gap.
I will not rely in our police force or the Justice System. Neither has been able to establish good reputation and integrity as its foundation.
This country is not fair to many of its citizens. A continued discussions and publicity of this issue will give way to a more democratic country.
The Pangandamans had the advantage of force over that of a 14 year old, 56 year old and an 18 year old girl. It’s common sense, no sane Filipino will listen to another twist.
leytenian,
very nice comments–full of common sense and values.
some people are not grasping the reality that there’s a gap between Rule of Law and Human rights abuses. –ano raw?
———–
It’s an endemic pattern- very widespread that only the middle class can blog about it and have the courage to fight for their rights.
endemic? then wide spread? here is what mareng merriam says about endemic:
1 a: belonging or native to a particular people or country b: characteristic of or prevalent in a particular field, area, or environment
2: restricted or peculiar to a locality or region
ano ba talaga ate?
——————-
If the middle class will stop to care , who would fight for the Human Rights in this country and influence our laws?
zte, fertilizer scam, hello garci scam, northrail–saan ang middle class dito? i have yet to see them in the rallies that we attend to! puro bayarang ralyista lang ang nakikita ko sa frontlines thus have you heard any dispersal operations in quite a long period? the police simply wait for 5 PM because usually, the 200 per day payment of rallyists is only up to that time. after that, the police need not do anything: the ralyists will just go back payatas and tondo on their own! so what do the middle class care?
The Middle Class may be a minority in number but the publicity will reach the very poor. The middle class can bridge that gap. –bridge what? samar and leyte like the one built by another leytenian?
————–
I will not rely in our police force or the Justice System. Neither has been able to establish good reputation and integrity as its foundation. –neither THE LEYTENIAN 😉
———-
This country is not fair to many of its citizens. A continued discussions and publicity of this issue will give way to a more democratic country.
The Pangandamans had the advantage of force over that of a 14 year old, 56 year old and an 18 year old girl. It’s common sense, no sane Filipino will listen to another twist.
this is your most sensible comment: you want continued discussions yet in the end you concluded that no sane filipino will listen to another twist!
very leytenian indeed! 🙂
Pulis na pogi,
You mean the same way the media didn’t prioritize Teehankee in the first Hultman vs Teehankee and also in the second Hultman vs Teehankee?
Like I stated to Kaminaman, “There are a lot of cases/issues we should be vigilant about.” , whether you give it a week or not.
ahhh pulis,
“after that, the police need not do anything: the ralyists will just go back payatas and tondo on their own! so what do the middle class care?”
you are still not getting it. the point that you keep blogging, you become the middle class but maybe poorer than me 🙂 hehehe
and don’t be confuse with leytenian. it’s only a name just like pulis na pogi. why do you need to tell the blogosphere that you are pogi? hahaha. onli in da pilipins, are you insecure or KSP? 🙂
honestly pulis, if you cannot understand the GAP, then i’m not sure if you can exercise your duty.
haha, now the official report was out. while the de la paz defenders would like to think that it helps them, take a look at the 5th, 6th and 7th sentences:
“but based on the statement of vgcci starter marshall (mr elmer saguisa) at that time he talk already both parties, but suddenly he was not expected that argument was not settled.â€Â
now where did this detail first appear in the blogsphere?
answer: from the 5th and 7th paragraphs of the post of a certain brianna asal that was first posted on december 29, 2008 or three days after the incident, and i cut and paste: hahahahahaha!
paragraph 5, lines 5 and 6: “Nasser Jr. reiterated to the marshall what he explained to the elder dela Paz, which his knowledge the former already accepted his explanation.â€Â
paragraph 7, line 3: “Akala ko po, Sir, nagkaintindihan na ho tayo kaninaâ€Â.
hahahaha. credit to the blog of manuel quezon iii https://www.quezon.ph/2104/impunity-2/. i cur and paste from there.
what can bambee say now? why is this detail not in her blog? it is becoming clear now. before the fisticuffs, the pangandamans already thought that the overtaking issue was already settled! ask that marshall mr elmer saguisa!
hahahahahaha
now, the official security incident report is now out! find it at http://midfield.wordpress.com/2009/01/02/valley-golf-guards-report-pangandaman-security-men-drew-guns-on-dela-pazes/
and guess what: take a look at lines 5, 6, and 7 and let me quote (with all the typo errors):
“but based to the statement of VGCCI marshall/ starter (mr elmer saguisa) at that time he talk already both parties but sudenly he was not expected that argument was not settled.â€Â
aray! now, where did this detail first appear in the blogsphere?
answer: from the post of brianna asal above, posted on the 29th of december or 3 days after the incident and i cut and paste:
paragraph 3, lines 7 and 8: With the said explanation, del Paz replied “Okey, kortesiya lang.â€Â
paragraph 6, lines 5 to 7: “Nasser Jr. reiterated to the marshall what he explained to the elder dela Paz, which his knowledge the former already accepted his explanation.â€Â
paragraph 8, lines 3 and 4: †“Akala ko po, Sir, nagkaintindihan na ho tayo kaninaâ€Â.
another answer: from the post of p that only appeared yesterday, or 1 week after the incident: and i cut and paste again:
paragraph 6, line 14 and 15: Thinking that things had been cleared up, Mr. dela Paz said, “Okay, kortesiya lang†(â€ÂOkay, just seeking courtesy“) .
paragraph 8, line 8 to 12: During their break, the marshal approached Nasser Jr, stating that the dela Paz’s were complaining that there were five of them in their group and why they overtook the dela Paz flight. Nasser Jr. reiterated to the marshal what he had already explained to the elder del Paz, to which his knowledge the former had already accepted his explanation.
aray again. now why are these very telling details not in bambee’s blog? it is now clear as daylight that before the fisticuffs started, even the mashalls thought that the overtaking issue was already settled! ask mashall mr elmer saguisa!
aray! aray! aray!
ps:
and thanks to manuel quezon iii for marking my posts as spam and deleting them even before it is moderated. now, your pseudo-personality (leytenian) is commenting on my posts even if i cannot find it in the enties above! hahaha
pulis,
you are still not getting it. here’s a link about farmers wanting to oust DAR chief. it’s not just about bambee. the issue will connect to this issue. it may not be relevant to you but it’s about building a bigger case 🙂
http://barangayrp.wordpress.com/2009/01/02/farmers-go-online-to-oust-dar-chief/
“The DAR has never supported the farmers in their struggle. All the time that he [Pangandaman] has been there, the department has never produced good results for the farmers,†Olaes said, adding that more farmers have indicated their desire to sign the online petition.”
i don’t understand why you are siding the bad guys.
hello leytenian!
now my posts here are not filtered as spam? ok back to business: 🙂
i don’t pretend to be part of the middle class. have you seen the stats that more than half of policemen are living below poverty line and more than 80% do not own houses? i consider myself poor who just knows how to budget my income and prioritize things.
and don’t be confused with with pulis na pogi. it’s only a name just like leytenian. why do you need to tell the blogosphere that you are leytenian? hahaha. onli in da pilipins, are you insecured or KSP? it is too parochial1
Pulis na pogi,
“We also registered the eight year old son of Hussein named Angelo Pangandaman whom they cannot leave behind the clubhouse as there will be no one to take care of him.”
“paragraph 8, line 8 to 12: During their break, the marshal approached Nasser Jr, stating that the dela Paz’s were complaining that there were five of them in their group and why they overtook the dela Paz flight. Nasser Jr. reiterated to the marshal what he had already explained to the elder del Paz, to which his knowledge the former had already accepted his explanation. ”
If being registered means being part of a flight, there would indeed be 5 of them. Unless indicated that the 5th is not going to play golf; it would really be a bone of contention if there are supposed to be only 4 players.
If you look at the story from the Pangandaman side, it appears that the De la Pazs saw 2 adult golfers overtaking them. (Pangandaman Jr and Farah Locsin)
If it is indeed that the overtaking issue was supposed to be resolved there; that does not mean that the De la Pazs already knew that there are 5 registered names (if that should be the case).
Maybe they later found out that there are 5 registrants for one of the Pangandaman flights without knowing that the 5th is not a player so they sought to complain again.
Many people resurrect a previous complaint when they have a new complaint.
i don’t understand why pulis na pogi is gloating over the fact that there was an argument before the mauling. can you use it to justify beating up a child?
“i don’t understand why pulis na pogi is gloating over the fact that there was an argument before the mauling. can you use it to justify beating up a child?”…Mindanaoan
Paano nga naman kung tiningnan ka nang pasuliling, sinita ka, binulyawan ka ? Banatan agad? Mamang guapong parak? Onli in da Pilipins.
hahaha, many posters are now posting, conveniently circumventing the fact that in hole nr 5, the official report says: “based to the statement of VGCCI marshall/ starter (mr elmer saguisa) at that time he talk already both parties but sudenly he was not expected that argument was not settled.â€Â
it may be in broken english but the message is clear: even the marshall thought that the initial confrontation about the overtaking issue had been settled already–after talking to BOTH parties!
now, the marshall is the police, fiscal, and lower court in the fairways. if the de la pazes do not recognize his authority, or are unhappy with his decision, they could have contested the actions of this marshall to the valley golf management, very much like you go to the CA if you are not satisfied with the judgement of the RTC.
but heck no, they went to the pangandamans directly and confronted them AGAIN, never mind the fact that the marshall had already resolved the issue! (or so the marshall thought!). hell, you don’t go to your opponent across the courtroom and blow him away if you are unhappy with the judge’s decision. there is one very apt term in the courts if you do that: “CONTEMPT OF COURT.” here, the de la pazes showed utter contempt of the fairway authority which is the marshall.
they were really looking for trouble and when they found it and had their ass kicked, they went to the media and to the blogs, crying out loud how they were “trampled upon” by a powerful and heavily armed warlord!
here is the ultimate aray for the de la pazes:
this is the post of a certain rge in pinoygolfer.com forum. he is a member since april 2007 with 595 posts to date (he is a pioneer member i supposed, as the forum started only in end of march 2007) he placed his address as valley golf, orchard, eagle ridge so i suppoed he is personally known to many others in the philippine golfing community and is a “somebody†given his access to information sources. his preliminary statement said it all.
http://www.pinoygolfer.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5801&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=pangandaman&start=180
I just spent some time with the head of the fact-finding committee. He has submitted all pertinent facts to the board and leaves it to them to make the necessary decision based on all the facts. I will outline the facts to you as it was outlined to me. Rest assured that the facts were obtained from all parties involved and all witnesses at each incident site. The statements were obtained both by the valley fact-finding group and by the NBI as well. Testimonies were recorded, verified, and re-verified. Fortunately for the parties involved, there were always witnesses to give supporting statements on the events as they occurred.
i now wonder what is take of the de la pazes and their apologists on this?
for those who care to read, here is rge’s post (mabuhay si bill gates for the cut and paste technology!)
I just spent some time with the head of the fact-finding committee. He has submitted all pertinent facts to the board and leaves it to them to make the necessary decision based on all the facts. I will outline the facts to you as it was outlined to me. Rest assured that the facts were obtained from all parties involved and all witnesses at each incident site. The statements were obtained both by the valley fact-finding group and by the NBI as well. Testimonies were recorded, verified, and re-verified. Fortunately for the parties involved, there were always witnesses to give supporting statements on the events as they occurred.
I will compose the outline shortly as it will be lengthy but just to whet your appetite or get you thinking, you will be quite surprised with the findings. Let’s put it this way, the people we thought of as villains weren’t quite what they were depicted to be. and the supposed protagonists may have yet been quite as factual in their testimony as it turns out to be. Even our 14-year old isn’t as innocent and “prayerful†when all the details come out. just give me a few minutes….
In the interest of making sure that no facts might be left undisclosed, I will take it upon myself to start from the very beginning. Firstly let us start by saying that on or at about 12:40 p.m., the party of the Pangandaman’s registered at the starter’s area. They registered for 2 flights comprised of 4 individuals per flight. Unfortunately, they still had 2 members of their group that had not yet arrived, so they initially tee’d off as 2 successive threesomes. The starter and marshall were informed that the 2 individuals that had not yet arrived would just catch up with them in the fairway. On or at about 1:05 p.m. the Dela Paz group registered initially as a twosome but since this isn’t normally allowed, they registered as a 3-some even if the elder Mr. Dela Paz was not really going to play.
When the Dela Paz 3-some was playing on hole number 3, they were passed by 2 golf carts containing Mayor Pangandaman and his companion (in one cart) and the caddies being brought by one of the starter personnell. The Pangandaman’s did not ask permission to drive through because they did not want to disturb the Dela Paz’s who were in the middle of the fairway. Upon reaching the green of the 3rd hole, Mr. Dela Paz asked the caddie why the people in the cart just went through. Mayor Pangandaman who was already positioned at the 4th hole, personally informed Mr. Dela Paz that they were part of 2 foursomes. At this point, Mr. Dela Paz said “ah okay, courtesy lang namanâ€Â. This was verified by the caddies. Mr. Pangandaman said that he did not disturb them anymore because the player was about to hit. At this point, Mayor Pangandaman thought everything was okay so he proceeded to the 4th hole (Par 3) where his other flightmates were. In the records it says that Mr. Pangandaman was not yet even done pitching into the green when a ball landed near his 8-year old child so they immediately made sure the child was secured in the cart. ( For those unaware of the common practice at Valley Golf, on every par 3, the group behind you is signaled to hit into the green once everyone from your group is already on the green) Until you have been cleared to hit by the group ahead, you should not hit into the green. It is common sense and basic precautionary procedure.
In this particular case, we have no corroborative testimony. One set of caddies say they were given clearance, while the other say that no clearance was given as of yet when the ball/s had landed.
The Pangandaman’s claim that the same situation happened in the 5th hole (Par5). Even the caddied confirmed this. At this time, Bambee Dela Paz had called the Marshall to tell him that the flight behind them was complaining about why their pace was slow and that the cause of the delay was the 5-some in front of them. Shortly thereafter, a marshall on his motorcycle appeared and approached the Pangandaman’s and asked if they were playing as a fivesome to which the Mayor said no. “We are 2 foursomesâ€Â. Nonetheless, the Pangandaman’s had already agreed among themselves that they would rather the Dela Paz’s play through. The Mayor was even quoted saying to his Father. †magagaling yung mga bata at malakas pumalo, baka mabagalan sa atin†They informed the marshall that they would just let the Dela Paz group play through and the marshall informed the Mr. Dela Paz of this. ( Just as an aside, the investigative group actually asked the group behind Dela paz if indeed they had complained about the slow down and the group said that the y said no such thing to the Dela paz flight. They were not even in contact at anytime before they arrived at the tee house to see the fight and eventually help stop it) When the Delapaz group reached the green of hole 5, the caddies of the 2 kids gave them their drivers so that they would waste no time playing through. The Mayor, who at that time was sitting along with their companions, stood up to personally tell Mr. Dela Paz to play through. Caddies, and the tee house server claim that the Mayor told Dela Paz na “Mauna na ho kayo†and walked to approach Dela Paz, The response of Dela Paz was “Huwag mo akong pagtaasan ng boses†Dela Paz began to question the Mayor why they were playing as a fivesome. The Mayor said that this was not the case but Dela Paz was insisting and even said (again corroborated by the caddies) “Linoloko mo ba ako?†“Member ka ba dito, Kilala mo ba ako?†(as you can see, this question did not come from Pangandaman. In fact, in the recorded testimony, this is exactly what Pangandaman claimed delapaz had said to him and yet in Delapaz’ recorded statement, he never said that the mayor asked him †kilala mo ba ako†Completely different from when the media was already involved.
When Delapaz was posing the above question, the mayor was heard to say. “Sandali lang, hindi naman tayo nagaaway dito. Akala ko ba naayos na natin yung issue kanina sa hole 3? At about this point Delapaz closed his umbrella and then poked the mayor on his stomach using the pointed end ( some caddies say Dela Paz swung the umbrella and some say that he poked the Mayor) The investigative board asked Dela Paz what he did, he said that he poked the Mayor in self defense. When asked who was attacking him, Dela Paz said that he was being surrounded by 4 men. The caddies and other witnesses on hand said that when the umbrella incident happened, it was only Dela Paz and the mayor that were talking. The other parties were in the tee house about 15-20 yards away. The Mayor says he was poked and so he backed off and just as he was about to be poked again, his brother, Hussein ran and attacked Delapaz and hit Delapaz knocking him to the ground.( At this point the commotion took place. One of the things observed is 14-year old Bino hit the Mayor with his driver. Apparently, the mayor parried with his forearm and hand so this is where he sustaned the injury. In the process also, Hussein was being pulled off the older dela paz by his 2 children but again Bino was seen to hit Hussein in the face and head while Bambee had scratched the other side of Husseins face. At this time also, witnesses say, that 3 or 4 other members of the flight excluding the Secretary, the 8-year old boy, and the girlfriend of Hussein were involved in attacking or subduing the older dela paz but this lasted very shortly and when the combatants had been separated the existing people in the tee house as well as the new flight that was playing behind the dela paz’s.
At this point the Secretary told the delapaz group to leave so as to avoid any more trouble. As the elder delapaz was leaving he was heard calling someone on his cellphone saying †may away kami, pumunta kayo ditoâ€Â
No one knew who delapaz was speaking to as he walked away towards the main clubhouse. A few minutes later, the secretary and his group decided to end the day instead of continuing to play. When they got to the clubhouse, Hussein wanted to wash up because he was bleeding in the neck area. As he got near the reception area, he saw delapaz and was heard to have said “O, nandito pa pala kayo†to which Dela Paz said “Hindi pa tapos ito gaganti pa kamiâ€Â. At this point, Bino got in between his Dad and Hussein while saying †Tatandaan ka namin†(None of the witnesses in the clubhouse, and there were many, ever saw Bino kneel and say that he was only 14 years old at maawa na sila) On the contrary, Bino was acting like anything but a helpless child. He sounded tough, angry, and antagonistic enough that the fight broke out again. At this point, the bodyguards of the Mayor ran into the clubhouse via the poolside entrance. When questioned about this, the mayor said that one was his driver and the other was his “Yayoâ€Â. As far as the board was concerned, the “Yayo†was also a bodyguard. Said Yayo came into the clubhouse with a clutchbag containing a gun and brought out the gun without pointing it at anyone. The Mayor immediately instructed him that there was no need for guns and the gun was put back. During the investigation, the Mayor said that the handgun was his and that his “yayo†was likely going to give it to him but he declined. Upon instructing his “yayoâ€Â, the man just stayed in one corner. At this time the wife of Dela Paz and his other son arrived. The son was wielding a baseball bat and the wife had a knife which she pulled out of a scabbard. These two were subdued by security but they were verbally threatening the Pangandaman’s during this time. There was also a reported incident where the driver of the mayor ran out and came back with a suitcase containing a supposed armalite as claimed by valley security. The driver never pulled it out or pointed it at anyone but it was readily accesible
and here is what the site admin of pinoy golfer.com says about the post of rge:
“Great account of the incident, Ray. My compliments. I heard the same details third-hand from my sources. I agree with the others; Mr. de la Paz was foolish to pick a fight with his children present.
The revelation of these facts cast a severe shadow on the Bambee’s blog, don’t they?â€Â
aray, aray, aray!!!
To Bambi De La Paz,
pakisabihan mo na lang kaya nag mga kaklase mo at kalaro sa golf sa pinapasukan mo paaralan sa Estados Unidos na sulatan ang kanilang mga comgressman na i-blacklist itong mga pangandaman na di makapasok sa Estados Unidos, sa kadahilanan na, kung makakapasok sa kanilang bansa ang mga pangandaman maaring maglaro ito ng golf at bubugin din ang mga kalaro mo o sino mang makasama ng mga pangandaman sa golf course sa estados Unidos.
maraming salamat,
tiburcio
Pulis na pogi,
I think you missed my post at 1:21 AM.
To everyone else,
I believe its only a matter of time for the investigation results to be officially shown to the public.
justice,
and i think you missed mine in 6:56AM.
btw, i am missing a lot of things here. sometimes my posts get in, sometimes it is marked as spam. hahaha
Wow..justice league..nitpicking again. hahahaha.
its so good of you to scrutinize the report about the 4 or 5 registrants on the pangandamans team when all the while you missed the whole picture. the blogosphere have painted wholesale the pangandaman’s as an evil, inhuman person and portrayed the dela pazs as meek and docile victims of injustice, based on what? of bambees emotionally charged and bias blog.
you have shown your ability to treat an unbias report about the incident with a grain of salt, but very quick to jump into conclusion upon reading bambees one sided account. or are you just too proud to accept that the bloghosphere made a big blunder and too pompous to retract their preconcieved notion of fairness.
the dela paz have shown that THEY CAN and are willing to hurt people who they percieved are lower than them. it just so happen they pick the wrong fight.
Pulis na pogi ,
Actually I have read that post.
Here is what Brianasal’s post stated.
“When the 2nd flight reached the green of hole no. 5 and after holing out, they joined the 1st flight of Sec. Pangandaman and took their snacks. While doing so, the marshall approached and told Nasser Jr. that the dela Paz’s were complaining why they were 5 of them in their group and why they overtook their flight. Nasser Jr. reiterated to the marshall what he explained to the elder dela Paz, which his knowledge the former already accepted his explanation.
Later, unconvinced even after the marshall relayed to him that there were only four (4) and not five (5) in their flight, and that they were not overtaking as they just had to go back to the clubhouse and later join their flight.”
In the initial explanation that Delfin de la Paz was supposed to have accepted; it was confined to the “overtaking issue”.
There wasn’t an explanation of playing fivesome there yet.
If the fivesome complaint hasn’t arisen yet at that time when the first explanation was supposedly agreed upon; reiterating that the first complaint was addressed will do little to adress the fivesome complaint.
Like I stated earlier “Many people resurrect a previous complaint when they have a new complaint.”.
LEGAL BEDROCK
THE RULE of law can be defined as a system in which the laws are public knowledge, are clear in meaning, and apply equally to everyone. They enshrine and uphold the political and civil liberties that have gained status as universal human rights over the last half-century. . . . Perhaps most important, the government is embedded in a comprehensive legal framework, its officials accept that the law will be applied to their own conduct, and the government seeks to be law-abiding.
Facts: In the Philippines, what’s happening is exactly the opposite. Politicians own and rule the law
Do not believe sa pulis na pogi. His side of story is a MYTH and it does not support the facts.
The Pangandamans cannot serve right for this country. they can only serve terror and intimidation for the people.
Facts :
LEGAL BEDROCK
Do not believe sa pulis na pogi. His side of story is a MYTH and it does not support the facts.
nagpupulis pulisan lang yan….
nasa payroll din yan..kaya ganyan ang asta….
hahaha, some people just cannot accept that fact na nadenggoy sila ni bambee.
legal bedrock, yan lang ba ang alam mo? oxymoron yata pangalan mo? have you forgotten that a simple denial has almost no weight as evidence?
justice league, well, its up to you. believe what you want. but in my simplistic police world, if just moments ago we had already settled an issue as minor as overtaking (with the help an authority at that), surely, i will let pass your other infraction moments later which is playing in a group of 5 instead of 4! i will just tell you, ok, go on sex orgy of 5 right there if you want! happy new year na lang!
but by the way, even that point of 5some or 4some was clarified and sorted out before the tee off in hole nr 5! here is the explanation of rge (Ray) a pioneer of pinoy golfer.com and personally know to the site admin. he is a member of valley golf:
“I also have a speculation as to why Dela Paz was insisting that the Pangandaman’s were part of a 5-some. This was not covered by any info I got from the fact finding group. If you will recall, the original flights were composed of 3 players each. Obviously, when the mayor joined the second threesome along with his companion, this would make the flight a 5-some. I do believe this was corrected before starting the 5th hole. This is not part of any information relayed to me but just something that crossed my mind when trying to analyze why Dela Paz was insistent that the mayor was playing as a 5-some.”
http://www.pinoygolfer.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5801&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=pangandaman&start=240
bill gates did not invent cut and paste. it was developed by lawrence tesler.
so, the de la pazes made the mistake of provoking the pangandamans. pray tell, is that a defense for clobbering them, including the 14-year old kid? could the picture of the de la pazes as seen on tv be merely a result of self defense?
The de la Pazes are stupid enough to attack a government official with armed bodyguards with ice picks at the main club house? I could understand the initial altercation but a second one, with minimal “resbak?†And how incompetent is the mayor’s security if he wasn’t whisked away immediately. — missingpoints
Indeed, if “naivety” is equal to stupidity — then, they were indeed stupid. Reality bites. Maybe they should watch our tabloid-infested primetime news or just the execrable Wowawee (Willy Revillame is virtually a politico himself, dispensing largesse and trampling over the dignities of his studio contestants at the same time) and phuleeeze open their eyes (maybe we are not progressing much as a unified force against the Arroyo regime because we are not on the same plane of reality yet — and how GMA is a genius for letting each group in the society cling to its own views/paradigms/interests). Another thing here, is that, the de la Paz family sort of act like they seem to be in la-la land – clueless ‘ika nga –That the man he was confronting had bodyguards should have alerted the de la Paz father.
And the de la Paz family not belonging to the privileged class? Just consider, what family who does not have influence or is at least, used to having influence would get its own security detail after the incident provided by no less than Interior Secretary Puno? And what about the other people who are routinely subjected to indignities and outright violence by our beloved politicos? Nada. Not unless you become a Manny Pacquiao, and even the President and Vice President would kiss your behind.
When pride/hubris and real power clash (the violent kind as we have in the country), who wins?
Quibbles over etiquette are supposed to signal that its sensible underpinnings have been violated – but in this case – they were indeed violated, but the sense of the situation (and lol, the over-all situation in our poor, sad country) has been taken for granted by the De la Paz family, to their own detriment; obviously, the Pangandamans, judging from the incident, don’t give a shit for either etiquette or its purpose, and clearly abused their authority as government officials. Sec. Nasser Pangandaman resigning? From reports, he just watched – so we are boxing at the moon in hoping that he would resign (please resign? like we have been pleading since Hello Garci to the troll in Malacanang; the troll would like to keep people like Sec. Pangandaman in her cabinet (a token appointment to appease Muslims in his case?; what about the staying power of the curmudgeonly Justice Secretary Raul Gonzales who keeps entertaining us with his notions of justice?).
By all means, we should not tire of raking over the coals the reprehensible acts of government officials who have no business ever in using their people-granted power against citizens — but enough of this naivete or narrow-minded views over justice and injustice in the country.
mindanaon,
according to some eyewitnesses it was bino (14 yo 5 foot 6 140lbs) who first swing a driver to the mayor. so stop portraying him as a defenseless kid.
When the rule of law is broken, there is no possibility to implement human rights standards.
When the word of the king alone ( hindi niyo ako kilala) is law there is also no possibility of protecting human rights.
To implement the rule of law, education for the people to voice out their frustration is crucial for democracy. It is also appropriate for the pangandamans to sacrifice for their country and resign from their own cruelty as requested by many.
When rule of law is abused by our own representatives, our country will not produce the desired results for economic growth.
conyo, that was supposedly after hussein attacked the father. but don’t believe it just yet. note that that story line comes from the pangandaman side.
still, you need to demonize the kid some more to justify their being clobbered.
I really think Gloria should fire Pangandaman already. All these lawyering from bloggers is going to make us either stupid or mad.
I was so interested in the case, hoping it will highlight the greater issue of very dangerous politician bodyguards. (Who wants a gun pointed at his face, huh? Over nothing?) It’s become an issue for nitpickers.
Madonna, you should read my first comment about the subject on FV.
mindanaoan,
the word came from the eyewitnesses of valley golf as narrated by a club member.
its not about demonizing the kid, i just wanted to convey an unbias version of the story. and that the kid was not as defenseless as some people would like to portray.
they got smack because of the stupidity of the father. i wonder what would you say if the pangandaman was on the recieving end.
kape tayo sa starbucks? 🙂
facts, whatever that you are smoking right now, throw it away! call the (+632) 531-9001 immediately! hahaha
As i mentioned above (at December 30th, 2008 at 12:07 am), the Middle Class does not like their heroes to be damaged goods. Since the de la Paz family no longer comes in a neat package, then the equivocation has started. (This is parallel to Miriam’s eliciting an admission from Jun Lozada during the Senate hearing that the latter was not exactly clean.) IMHO, that the elder de la Paz wielded his umbrella first and that the 14-year old is a brat should not change the picture but that’s just me. The Middle Cass follows its own logic.
“Since the de la Paz family no longer comes in a neat package… ”
I quoted Kundera on momblogger’s on kitsch.
conyo, the story is not a factual narration. it’s from the pangadaman side. notice that it includes thoughts of one side (did not want to disturb) but ignorant of the other side (No one knew who delapaz was speaking to).
it doesn’t matter if they were provoked, or if it’s all the dela pazas fault. what should be explained is why the kid was beaten up.
Lurker Lang,
Hmmmm…. I checked if you already answered in the FV “Scandalizing the Suffering” thread.
It appears you addressed a post to Pulis na Pogi but you haven’t addressed one to me yet.
Are you having difficulty defending your ideas?
“its so good of you to scrutinize the report about the 4 or 5 registrants on the pangandamans team when all the while you missed the whole picture. the blogosphere have painted wholesale the pangandaman’s as an evil, inhuman person and portrayed the dela pazs as meek and docile victims of injustice, based on what? of bambees emotionally charged and bias blog.
you have shown your ability to treat an unbias report about the incident with a grain of salt, but very quick to jump into conclusion upon reading bambees one sided account. “- Lurker Lang
Oh, MORE allegations from you.
My first post here at Dec. 30 11:22 AM on this thread dealt with someone’s personal story.
Discounting a clarification; my next post addressed to someone else on Dec 30 12:19PM contained the statements “And though it wouldn’t exculpate the Pangandamans for what they “supposedly†did, ………”
That should tell everyone what conclusion I had or even if I had one already.
On my post on Jan 2 2:38 PM, I stated:
“One thing interesting about this though is that both sides are rather detailed on what the other side did but rather hedged on what their own side did.
When both versions are eventually reconciled, I think it would be a very interesting story.”
In the FV thread “The Pangandaman-De la Paz Family feud”; someone asked me if
“Have you already made up your mind? Is the case beyond a reasonable doubt? Or are you willing to at least let the courts decide the matter?”
And my reply was “I am willing to look at the results of the investigation.”
So what is this so called “conclusion” that I was supposed to have been quick to jump into?
If indeed the bloghosphere made a big blunder and too pompous to retract their preconcieved notion of fairness; what has that got to do with me?
The people have been voiceless for so long. Now the blogosphere is a medium to express. It’s still young and it needs to grow more . There’s nothing wrong with the debate. The on-going publicity may correct the wrongs of others and may open our country to real democracy. Let the politicians be bothered by it. Let them deal with it and experience it.
Let them explain and rebuild their credibility, character and conduct of public service.
Express yourself, everyone .. Let it out even more. This case is a perfect Bang for the new Year.
BrianB,
Hello Brian.
Given that there is someone who loves to ascribe nitpicking to me and somehow you are portraying nitpickers in a negative context; I’m wondering if you are actually referring this to me.
Are you asribing the negative context of this “nitpicking” to what I did regarding your personal story?
My take on this:
Let the justice system works on this pangandaman/delapaz case.
I agree with mindanaoan. The adult may slug it out anytime they want to vent out their pent-up rage.
But they should keep their hands off the kids.
Pulis na pogi,
Well I’m not about to admit having any experience with sex orgies so I’ll take your word for that.
But this is golf.
Simple question- Did you consider how long a group of 5 will play golf as against how long a group of 4 will play?
Ooooopssss.
Wrong block quoting but I know you know enough to figure it out.
justice,
goodness, have you been in the fairway yet?
stupid question.
justice league, nitpicking when details are hazy and much of it unknown. Nitpicking on actual details.
justice league,
“It appears you addressed a post to Pulis na Pogi but you haven’t addressed one to me yet.
Are you having difficulty defending your ideas?”
I did not answer it so you can gloat about winning the argument..isn’t that what you really want ? having the last say? 🙂
but since you insist then i might as well answer you..
you ask me to reconcile my advocacy about the one which is inside the legal system while the other is out. This is non-sequitor; the issue is not about me, its about the dela paz and pangandaman and I say again there is nothing in my POSTs where I advocated “oakwood” while discussing the issue. You ask a question and I answer. It is what it is..But here you are, conveniently twisting the discussion and spin it where you ascribed that I am advocating it. Now who is the spinner here…
It is not an allegation. It is a conclusion your honor. When someone (that means you) tries very hard to scrutinize any report whether from a third party or eyewitnesses and DO NOT subject the other sides story the same scrutiny; it doesn’t take a Sherlock Holmes to deduct which side he believes…
kape tayo sa starbucks? 🙂