In the Inquirer's report, the Pangandamans have chosen to remain mum about the incident:
(Excerpt from the Inquirer)The thing is, I think I know someone who knows Mayor Nasser and will wait to hear their side of the story before spewing bile on this horrid incident.
Efforts to reach Secretary Pangandaman for comment yesterday proved fruitless. His cell phone was off. The public information officer of the Department of Agrarian Reform promised to call the Inquirer as soon as he got in touch with the secretary but he had not done so at press time Saturday.
If the account of the victims are true, the least we should expect the government to do is to investigate Mayor Nasser immediately and suspend him. The DILG and the Office of the Ombudsman should act MOTU PROPRIO on reports of such incidents.
This raises the question, does Mayor Nasser display the same kind of behavior in Masiu? Is this the kind of leader that the town of Masiu deserves? What does this say of Muslims?(Excerpt from the Inquirer)
De la Paz said the incident started when the Pangandamans broke golf etiquette by playing out of turn and over-taking the De la Paz family at the South Course of the Valley Golf and Country Club.
In an interview, De la Paz, 56, said he and his two children—daughter Bambee, 18, and son Bino, 14—were playing golf and were on Hole No. 3 when two golf carts bearing the Pangandamans and their friends overtook them.
Aside from the Pangandamans, the group also included Paysal Abdulaa, Mohammed Hussein, Abdan Pacasuna, Rene Maglaque and Arnel Astacio.
Dela Paz said he complained to the marshal and when the two groups caught up with each other at the tee house on hole No. 5, an altercation ensued.
De la Paz said that at the height of the altercation, Nasser Jr. suddenly attacked him and his son, punching and kicking them and shouting: “Hindi mo ba ako nakikilala? (Don’t you know me?)”
Bambee de la Paz, who witnessed everything, said the younger Pangandaman continued to attack even when his brother was already on his knees pleading for him to stop.
Dela Paz’s 14 year-old boy suffered various facial, head and back injuries due to the blows he received.
Does Mayor Nasser feel that he has a right to beat up people because of his high political station and because of his father's influence within the Arroyo Administration?
Even if the fourteen year old had done something which had provoked Mayor Nasser, beating a kid up is certainly no way to teach a lesson. Was the young Pangandaman beaten up by his father as a kid?
I just hope that Mr. Delfin de la Paz, his children Bambee and Bino (the one who got beaten up) continue with filing their case against the Pangandamans.
Certainly, the Secretary and Mayor will exert all their influence to resolve the case amicably . But, for the sake of all those who have been victimized by abusive government officials, the Dela Paz family should not be swayed and file the case.
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