Saturday, January 10, 2009

In the interest of fair play...

Here's a link to 3 versions of the Valley Golf mauling incident:


It's now starting to dawn on me that perhaps there is much more to this than just one account, and I for one apologize for my part in fanning the flames without objectivity and the open ear to hear all sides of the story.  Now my mind is mired in doubt.  Since my own eyes didn't witness the crime, I'll have to depend on eyewitness accounts and results from whatever investigations are taking place on the matter.

It's very, very possible that everyone had a hand in the violence that took place in this, a presumably peaceful location of civility: the golf course.  As one that has grown up around the sport (my brother himself was a junior golfer, participating in his share of tournaments back in the day), it's appalling that any sort of altercation would take place here.  Golf is NOT a contact sport (save of course for a golf club coming into swift and strong smacking contact with a golf ball).

Now that all sides seem to be amply represented, read away.

Maybe everyone was a little right... and a little wrong.  It's been said, there are 3 sides to every story: side A, side B, and the truth.

12 comments:

Herman . said...

interesting. our culture and legalese is often so he-said, she-said. and we as a people are often quick to judge, and unfortunately, quick to the trigger. i always thought the gorrell brouhaha of last year was a good example too. but viewed via the prism of the inequalities prevalent in our society, perfectly understandable.

Jojo Terencio said...

for sure, no one will know the truth as both sides will claim that they are telling the truth... karma na lang sa nagsisinungalin...

harlene yabut said...

I think they have an out-of- court settlement already, for what i have read in the newspaper. This really SUCKs! For me, If you want JUSTICE and you know that you're right you should always fight for it! I know it not going to be easy but at least you did fight. But who am I to judge. Whatever did happen in that golf course, they just made me think that it was all about the publicity. Fighting for JUSTICE was never IT.

Beer Gin said...

the valley golf management expelled the de la paz family, the pangandaman brothers banned for life, the secretary suspended for 2 years. after a thorough investigation, they found out that mr. de la paz instigated the melee. woe to the people who are quick to judge for they ended up looking like----------.

the moral of the story though is for Manang to refrain from endorsing things, joining into the fray or taking sides on issues without first verifying its authenticity. considering her stature not only as a pinay icon where young people look up to her, she should be more wary before joining the herd because most of the time due to the filipinos penchant for tsismis na kadalasan ay mali naman ang mga detalye. she should always err on the side of caution. or better yet, look before you leap. :)

Rastie Borbon said...

I understand where Ms. Lea Salonga is coming from. But i do not understand where Ms. Gintoxic is. The only point I would like to make is that the De la Paz's where damaged goods after the melee. What happened to the Pangandamans? Not even a scratch. They said the umbrella was used? Compare that with the M16s of the bodyguards. Im not saying that Pangandamans are at fault but whose fault was it when the De la Paz's where hurt? The truth will never be heard but the scars will always be there. Is that how civilized people react now?

Lea Salonga said...

It's very easy to point to the "bad bad politician" as the villain in this altercation after reading the emotional tale of a young girl whose father and brother got beaten up. It's easy to let one's emotions override one's reason.

Why I posted this particular blog was more for me... as a reminder to check all the facts first before jumping on any bandwagon. So, your second paragraph wasn't necessary... kumbaga, you were already preaching to the choir.

Beer Gin said...

sometimes the choir needs to be reminded that they're singing out of tune though. anyway, it's all water under the bridge now. so let's move on and hopefully we will stop dignifying tsismis in the future. :0

as for rastieborbon, you're like so many filipinos who hide in anonymity in expressing their views and opinions because they don't have the balls to stand by it. at least Manang here is brave enough to express her opinion on certain issues and even braver to admit that she erred. ;>

arlin dizon said...

people tend to side on the aggrieved party. fact of being human yan e. i'm sure those who sided with the dela paz's did not do it because our Manang here does. personal feelings and opinions yun. i'm guilty of that, too. but what's important is after listening to both sides e nakita natin yung pagkakamali. and admitted that we made the wrong judgment.

~*Chinky Fuentes said...

From what I remembered, Ms. Lea posted the blog of the daughter and just allowed us to express our own opinions. She also posted hers. Speaking for myself, I have my own judgment, so I don't know if she endorsed it. I don't think so. Besides, she posted the other side of the story. This is her site, it was her opinion and own feelings that she expressed.

It is just heartwarming that even though sometimes we get it wrong, our passion to get justice is evident. We are not a hopeless situation. Just imagine if Ms. Lea posted that blog and nobody even cared enough to express a few opinions?

Let us just look at the brighter side.

~*Chinky Fuentes said...

From what I remembered, Ms. Lea posted the blog of the daughter and just allowed us to express our own opinions. She also posted hers. Speaking for myself, I have my own judgment, so I don't know if she endorsed it. I don't think so. Besides, she posted the other side of the story. This is her site, it was her opinion and own feelings that she expressed.

It is just heartwarming that even though sometimes we get it wrong, our passion to get justice is evident. We are not a hopeless situation. Just imagine if Ms. Lea posted that blog and nobody even cared enough to express a few opinions?

Let us just look at the brighter side.

Lea Salonga said...

This is where it got sticky for me... the original blog posting was written as a first person account of the events that transpired... not as a second hand retelling. If it was a case of "my friend told me about what happened to her dad and brother," I wouldn't have been so quick to repost. However, since it was the "I saw these big bad politicos beat up my father and brother on the golf course," everyone that first read and reposted the blog didn't see it as mere gossip. So, here comes the outrage and the increase of blog activity.

Moving on...

I think all parties got exactly what they deserved.

arlin dizon said...

fair enough..