Philippines: Uproar over mauling by mayor/son of Cabinet secretary · Global Voices
Tonyo Cruz

Filipinos are unleashing online vitriol at Mayor Nasser Pangandaman Jr., son and namesake of President Arroyo's agrarian reform secretary, who reportedly mauled two persons last Dec. 26 at a golf course in Antipolo City.
(Photo of Secretary Nasser Pangandaman Sr., courtesy of USM.)
Vicissitude witnessed the incident and could not hide the shock and disgust that she saw her own father and younger brother beaten black and blue by purported “public servants”.
A Filipino Mom Blogger asks bloggers to read up and take concrete action.
The D Spot wrote:
A lot of politicians have been lording it all over in cases of graft and corruption which is already unforgivable, now here they are lording it over, as if they own the world, as if they can go over the law, as if they can just maul and poke their guns on people—the old and the young, and the very old and the very young.
Misteryosa described the incident as “appaling” and “just about the most outrageous things I’ve ever heard this year”, and laughed at news that the Mayor actually received an award for “effective leadership”.
Random Detoxification is angry at the Pangandamans and the officials of the golf club where the incident happened:
What's worse than a group of armed politicians beating up an unarmed old man? The management and staff of a golf club who were there THE WHOLE TIME and did NOTHING! Nothing but watch and then afterwards tell the beaten up family to LEAVE!!! The old man was bleeding and half-unconscious but no doctor was called, no assistance offered. Only an order to leave the premises. As if the old man and his children were the perpetrators of the crime and not the victims.
lux-lucis.net contemplates:
What fuels my outrage — apart from the violence of the incident itself — is the fact that it happened in the first place. Monsters would not be able to do this if they weren’t so confident in the protection of their power; if they were not so absolutely certain they would get away with it, eventually. There are people who say that punishment is not a good deterrent for crime: I say it is, as long as people know that the punishment will be meted out regardless of the status of the offender. This… is not the case here, where the rich get away with everything from rape to murder and former presidents somehow find a way to re-establish their positions in power despite charges of plunder. Ours is a system that fosters injustice.
And I refuse — I refuse — to simply accept this. I refuse to say, “this is the way things work, we just have to survive and hope we don’t get crushed by the unfair system.” We don’t have to tolerate injustice. Acceptance, resignation, apathy — these things will just propagate it. But we need people to actively fight against it. We have voices, we have eyes with which to see, ears with which to hear, hands with which to write messages the world can see. Time to make use of them.
Mistervader writes:
I can't believe the gall of these people. I don't care if you're powerful, or influential, and I don't care how much clout you have. When you commit something this atrocious, you deserve more than just a slap in the wrist for it.
It's high time we stopped allowing people like these from getting away with their shenanigans, acting as if they are above the law. I have nothing but vile words to spare for them, and I have no sympathy for them whatsoever.
Let's see what happens next, and whether the elder Pangandaman gets to keep his post as cabinet secretary and what would happen to the case to be filed by police on Monday.