Not Yet Sikat

Inquirer reports: “The son of Agrarian Reform Secretary Nasser Pangandaman and several persons beat up a 14-year-old boy and his father at a golf course in Antipolo on Friday, the victims complained Saturday.”

Read Bambee Dela Paz’ (the daughter and sister of the victims) own account of the story on her blog:

My mom and my older brother come. I tell her Bino’s right ear is bleeding. They both look like they could kill. My dad holds my brother off, I hold off my mom. When I finally got my mom under control, my older brother gets away and I hold him off. Two of the mayor’s bodyguards pull out guns. I embraced my brother from the back, just holding him back, crying. The receptionists came to us, crying, hugging me, my dad, and my mom, whispering to us to just leave. “Maam, umalis na po kayo, may mga baril sila…Maam…umalis na po kayo please…”

Pinoys all over are outraged:

Manuel L Quezon III says we have a 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.”

Komikero Comics Journalsays that these bastards have to pay: “Don’t anyone even attempt to say, “That’s how it is in the Philippines”, “That’s just part of life.” or anything similar. Because if you do, you’re doing nothing but support atrocities like this by your fucking apathy.”

Bro Arian, FSC reminds us where power comes from: “People in power shouldn’t get the idea that the power they enjoy gives them the right to do whatever they want. They should remember that whatever power they enjoy comes from us.”

Carlos Conde calls Mayor Pangandaman a warlord:

Pangandaman Jr., evidently with his father’s blessing, acted like the warlord that he apparently is. The golf-course incident shows us what he is capable of doing with the little power he has. I now wonder what sort of atrocity he has been committing on the people of Masiu, a backward community in Lanao del Sur known for the violence and the cheating that goes on there during elections. I covered that place during the 1998 elections and I swore to myself I will never go back. I’m sure a lot of things have changed since then but, going by the behavior of its present mayor, I’m fairly certain it remains the backward, violent and feudal town that it was. Because only a town like that can produce a mayor like this.

Noemi has an extensive list of bloggers who have written about this outrage.