civilized behavior

I had drinks last night with a few friends at wine place Cav at the Serendra area, and thus had planned to post on their ridiculous counter-intuitive corkage fee (in short: one is charged a 300 corkage fee if you buy a sub-1000 peso wine from them and then drink it at their restaurant).

 

But the mood of outrage for something like that seems so petty now in light of the latest news of 2 sons of a government cabinet member, a mayor of lanao del sur, and presumably other assorted goons not-accounted for, beating up a 56 yr old businessman and his 14 yr old son in a golf course. First encountered details of the incident here. Bloggers have started writing about this incident, most prominently perhaps Manuel Quezon III.  Predictably though, a story that would so inflame the public in maybe the first 48 hours, is doused by accounts that it was in fact the the other side who started it. (Edited to include another account that it was the other side who started it) And the ultimate dousing will come from what happens next -- investigations, slow grinding of bureaucratic processes, i.e. boring news. 

In cases like these, the details of who started it, who was rude, who poked who with a friggin umbrella and started saying swear words are not as important as who in the end got beaten up, because assuming that one party started the whole mess it never justifies a beating.

If I were Bambee dela Paz I would take photos of the injuries of her family members and then post it on her blog. She should take a picture of her brother's ear that bled, and any other bruises, injuries, black eyes on her father and brother. That would help this story survive a bit longer in our media cycle that will soon move on to the next thing. 

Update from 3 Jan 2009

Lots of details here, which come from a pinoy golfer website

As is natural when more details and information are released, the issue becomes less black and white and requires more distillation as to which facts matter in deciding who was at fault here. So this info messes up things a bit, including clarity behind Pangandaman asking bloggers to stop it already. If anything, I think bloggers are helping clarify the issue (though of course there are lots of rabid ad hominem attacks perhaps; take the good with the bad)

I have not fully incorporated everything myself the details from the forum, but my essential query still stands what kind of violence was inflicted on the De la Paz party. I will admit though that to be fair now, I have to also ask the question as to what kind of violence was inflicted on the Pangandaman party. 

As the issue is more complex, it becomes harder for people to sort out. As an aid in the sorting out though, one needs to go back to first principles.

UPDATES:

Palace orders a probe of the incident

this is the default Palace action every time an incident that hits a nerve like this is reported in the media; it's a bit of a non-news to say the least.

Cops frustrated that neutral witnesses of the incident aren't forthcoming

The Antipolo police are frustrated. Neutral witnesses are hard to come by. The officers of the golf club don't want to talk, but they've already suspended the Secretary from the golf club reports Inquirer. The Inquirer report also says that a Pampanga fish-pond owner has been suspended. Is this supposed to be de la Paz?

Some rebuttal also from Delfin de la Paz (the 56 yr old) on the allegation of Secretary Pangandaman that de la Paz had started it.

Quoted from the Cops frustrated Inquirer article:

" 'As a father would I go into battle with my 18-year old daughter and my 14-year old son against five grown men? Would I, as a father, risk the safety of both my children, and the emotional trauma that this would cause them, as indeed was what had happened?' he said.

'Could my 14-year old son, my 18-year old daughter, and myself, a 56-year old man, beat up a 27-year old man with four or five grown men with him?' De La Paz said."

This is not the best sound bite to offer or quote to prove De La Paz's innocence in the matter; one could still start a fight, regardless if you're the "weaker" party. Punches were allegedly thrown, De La Paz was stepped on while on the ground, and he is quoted to say that he didn't feel that he was capable of driving himself to the hospital. The x-rays, medical reports, and photographic evidence of this would be far stronger statements.

Pet peeves with Inquirer reportage (from where I am getting most of my info on the incident) What is a "tee house brawl"?

DAR Chief apologizes for the golf brawl

The DAR Chief apologizes for the incident. He is sorry about what happened. He doesn't like what had happened. No mention in the article that it was the fault of his sons or of any other members of his golfing party. So far then, it seems like one of those fake apologies. They usually take the form of being sorry about the incident in general, but not admitting any fault. It's the admitting that certain people acted like neanderthals that provides everyone the needed catharsis.

And rightly, the De La Paz's did not accept

One will notice that the issue could get muddled as reportage of other issues with Pangandaman  are brought up. I find the issue already losing steam and heat. Where are those photos.

The need for quieter spaces

My main afternoon errand was to bring my sister to the airport. And as this is the sort of errand that could be potentially stressful -- what with the ugliness of the drive, and the traffic -- we decided to leave the house early and chill-out at a point not far from the c-5 route we were taking.

We ended up killing some time at the UCC Cafe at the Fort.   Decent brewed coffee + cream + chestnut paste = 200 bucks, good grief. Oh well, it was the 26th and we were willing to spend a little. We just needed a place to write in our notebooks, annotate our books and flip through some magazines

This UCC branch was a favorite place of mine to hang-out about 3-4 years ago when the Fort was still relatively empty. UCC was in a stand-alone structure, tucked at the edge of the Fort w/ only one or two tall buildings near it, and not even a proper parking lot nearby. We could see the McDonalds from just outside the door. We knew back then that such space -- the open fields, the darkness, and yet the smooth roads -- were a temporary phenomenon. So my sitting there that afternoon was already a nostalgia trip: for what the Fort once was (open playground for in-line skaters, skateboarders, runners) to what it's now becoming. 

You fill in the blank as to what the Fort is now becoming. 

There are more than a few plusses from things have changed, in terms of proper establishments in the area (Theodore's, Barcino, Fully Booked, R.O.X, the slew of restaurants in Serendra), but these things would have located outside Fort if such a development wasn't there. What is rare is what I described above: space, darkness, seclusion. We still need those things.