Tainting the Greens

I would admit to being one of those who joined in the fray and made snide remarks about the Pangandamans on the Valley Golf brawl. I even made a post, Justice for the Dela Paz family, in this blog backlinking to Bambee's account on the incident in her blog.

Well, some quarters are now airing the other side. In an email I got, another side of the story is being unearthed saying that it was the Dela Pazes who started the brawl. Some bloggers are also raising issue on how some bloggers can be so irresponsible in pointing to the Pangandamans as the culprit without looking at the other side of the story...... ouch.

I may have erred in making a rash judgment on who really was at fault pending the actual ruling on this case by the appropriate court if ever this is litigated ..... Blame it on my disdain for politicians and their ilks. However, I still see it wrong that a person of Mayor Pangandaman's stature would beat and allow his bodyguards to beat a 14-year old boy repeatedly even if he was indeed provoked........... that piece of information got my goat and I am still incensed by it. I maintain that people in authority should maintain their dignity and exercise utmost forbearance in the face of adversity. As an aside, Uncle Ben correctly laid it out for Peter a.k.a Spiderman when he reminded our cute superhero that ....."With great powers comes great responsibility". Through this account, I would also know that one of the bodyguards, the Yayo, brandished a gun, and another one readied an armalite to finish them off presumably. There is always a way for a proper venue for redress if indeed Mr. Delfin Dela Paz instigated the brawl. But that's another matter to think about in a machismo society like ours where justice is swiftly rendered through a slugfest and outcomes can easily be changed once the public takes notice...... culprits can become the underdogs or vice versa....

Again, I may be overreacting....... I must admit to my lack of objectivity where children and injustice are concerned. So I leave it to one and all to make their own judgment..... I rest my case.

In the interest of fairness, I am also posting the email on the result of the investigation of the fact-finding committee.

This is an account of the golf brawl that substantially supports the capsule account of Conrad Benitez. Bottom line: the De La Paz clan started the brawl. By all eyewitness accounts, the De La Paz family is composed of war freaks ready for battle anytime, anyhow, anywhere with anyone.

Israel might want to draft this family for its wars of aggression in the Middle East. Most important, the De La Paz clan is great at propaganda and psywar. Imagine raising the hackles of thousands of people all over the world with images of a young Christian boy on his knees pleading pitifully to be spared the wrath of a towering Muslim Saracen. Brings to mind the historical image Christians would rather delete from their memory: Sultan Salahuddin, Muslim conqueror of Jerusalem in the 12th century.

Apparently, Bambee De La Paz is a golfer, brawler, and script-writer rolled into one. Words from her father's mouth were switched into Nasser Jr.'s mouth and resonated well among people fed up with politicians. Hussein, who got whacked and scratched in the head and face, morphed from brawl victim to bully. This De La Paz family has got real talent. They proved themselves to be more trapo than the trapos.

Moral lesson: Muslim politicians playing golf within Metro Manila's Triumphal Christian Crusader atmosphere must always bring a laptop with them in the fairway. This is a vital golf equipment in case of fairway or clubhouse disputes. Ask Bambee to tell you about it.

This is not the Valley Golf's official report but claims to be first hand sourced from the club's Head of the Fact Finding Committee. Offhand, it sounds like very pro Pangandaman. However, good friends have told me that in Valley Golf, the caddies avoid servicing Delfin de la Paz because they find him abusive and arrogant.

I just spent some time with the head of the fact-finding committee. He has submitted all pertinent facts to the board and leaves it to them to make the necessary decision based on all the facts. I will outline the facts to you as it was outlined to me. Rest assured that the facts were obtained from all parties involved and all witnesses at each incident site. The statements were obtained both by the valley fact-finding group and by the NBI as well. Testimonies were recorded, verified, and re-verified. Fortunately for the parties involved, there were always witnesses to give supporting statements on the events as they occurred.

I will compose the outline shortly as it will be lengthy but just to whet your appetite or get you thinking, you will be quite surprised with the findings. Let's put it this way, the people we thought of as villains weren't quite what they were depicted to be. and the supposed protagonists may have yet been quite as factual in their testimony as it turns out to be. Even our 14-year old isn't as innocent and "prayerful" when all the details come out. just give me a few minutes....

In the interest of making sure that no facts might be left undisclosed, I will take it upon myself to start from the very beginning. Firstly let us start by saying that on or at about 12:40 p.m., the party of the Pangandaman's registered at the starter's area. They registered for 2 flights comprised of 4 individuals per flight. Unfortunately, they still had 2 members of their group that had not yet arrived, so they initially tee'd off as 2 successive threesomes. The starter and marshall were informed that the 2 individuals that had not yet arrived would just catch up with them in the fairway. On or at about 1:05 p.m. the Dela Paz group registered initially as a twosome but since this isn't normally allowed, they registered as a 3-some even if the elder Mr. Dela Paz was not really going to play.

When the Dela Paz 3-some was playing on hole number 3, they were passed by 2 golf carts containing Mayor Pangandaman and his companion (in one cart) and the caddies being brought by one of the starter personnell. The Pangandaman's did not ask permission to drive through because they did not want to disturb the Dela Paz's who were in the middle of the fairway. Upon reaching the green of the 3rd hole, Mr. Dela Paz asked the caddie why the people in the cart just went through. Mayor Pangandaman who was already positioned at the 4th hole, personally informed Mr. Dela Paz that they were part of 2 foursomes. At this point, Mr. Dela Paz said "ah okay, courtesy lang naman". This was verified by the caddies. Mr. Pangandaman said that he did not disturb them anymore because the player was about to hit. At this point, Mayor Pangandaman thought everything was okay so he proceeded to the 4th hole (Par 3) where his other flightmates were. In the records it says that Mr. Pangandaman was not yet even done pitching into the green when a ball landed near his 8-year old child so they immediately made sure the child was secured in the cart. ( For those unaware of the common practice at Valley Golf, on every par 3, the group behind you is signaled to hit into the green once everyone from your group is already on the green) Until you have been cleared to hit by the group ahead, you should not hit into the green. It is common sense and basic precautionary procedure.

In this particular case, we have no corroborative testimony. One set of caddies say they were given clearance, while the other say that no clearance was given as of yet when the ball/s had landed.

The Pangandaman's claim that the same situation happened in the 5th hole (Par5). Even the caddied confirmed this. At this time, Bambee Dela Paz had called the Marshall to tell him that the flight behind them was complaining about why their pace was slow and that the cause of the delay was the 5-some in front of them. Shortly thereafter, a marshall on his motorcycle appeared and approached the Pangandaman's and asked if they were playing as a fivesome to which the Mayor said no. "We are 2 foursomes". Nonetheless, the Pangandaman's had already agreed among themselves that they would rather the Dela Paz's play through. The Mayor was even quoted saying to his Father. " magagaling yung mga bata at malakas pumalo, baka mabagalan sa atin" They informed the marshall that they would just let the Dela Paz group play through and the marshall informed the Mr. Dela Paz of this. (Just as an aside, the investigative group actually asked the group behind Dela paz if indeed they had complained about the slow down and the group said that the y said no such thing to the Dela paz flight. They were not even in contact at anytime before they arrived at the tee house to see the fight and eventually help stop it.) When the Delapaz group reached the green of hole 5, the caddies of the 2 kids gave them their drivers so that they would waste no time playing through. The Mayor, who at that time was sitting along with their companions, stood up to personally tell Mr. Dela Paz to play through. Caddies, and the tee house server claim that the Mayor told Dela Paz na "Mauna na ho kayo" and walked to approach Dela Paz, The response of Dela Paz was "Huwag mo akong pagtaasan ng boses" Dela Paz began to question the Mayor why they were playing as a fivesome. The Mayor said that this was not the case but Dela Paz was insisting and even said (again corroborated by the caddies) "Linoloko mo ba ako?" "Member ka ba dito, Kilala mo ba ako?" (as you can see, this question did not come from Pangandaman. In fact, in the recorded testimony, this is exactly what Pangandaman claimed delapaz had said to him and yet in Delapaz' recorded statement, he never said that the mayor asked him " kilala mo ba ako" Completely different from when the media was already involved.

When Delapaz was posing the above question, the mayor was heard to say. "Sandali lang, hindi naman tayo nagaaway dito. Akala ko ba naayos na natin yung issue kanina sa hole 3? At about this point Delapaz closed his umbrella and then poked the mayor on his stomach using the pointed end ( some caddies say Dela Paz swung the umbrella and some say that he poked the Mayor) The investigative board asked Dela Paz what he did, he said that he poked the Mayor in self defense. When asked who was attacking him, Dela Paz said that he was being surrounded by 4 men. The caddies and other witnesses on hand said that when the umbrella incident happened, it was only Dela Paz and the mayor that were talking. The other parties were in the tee house about 15-20 yards away. The Mayor says he was poked and so he backed off and just as he was about to be poked again, his brother, Hussein ran and attacked Delapaz and hit Delapaz knocking him to the ground.( At this point the commotion took place. One of the things observed is 14-year old Bino hit the Mayor with his driver. Apparently, the mayor parried with his forearm and hand so this is where he sustaned the injury. In the process also, Hussein was being pulled off the older dela paz by his 2 children but again Bino was seen to hit Hussein in the face and head while Bambee had scratched the other side of Husseins face. At this time also, witnesses say, that 3 or 4 other members of the flight excluding the Secretary, the 8-year old boy, and the girlfriend of Hussein were involved in attacking or subduing the older dela paz but this lasted very shortly and when the combatants had been separated the existing people in the tee house as well as the new flight that was playing behind the dela paz's.

At this point the Secretary told the delapaz group to leave so as to avoid any more trouble. As the elder delapaz was leaving he was heard calling someone on his cellphone saying " may away kami, pumunta kayo dito"

No one knew who delapaz was speaking to as he walked away towards the main clubhouse. A few minutes later, the secretary and his group decided to end the day instead of continuing to play. When they got to the clubhouse, Hussein wanted to wash up because he was bleeding in the neck area. As he got near the reception area, he saw delapaz and was heard to have said "O, nandito pa pala kayo" to which Dela Paz said "Hindi pa tapos ito gaganti pa kami". At this point, Bino got in between his Dad and Hussein while saying " Tatandaan ka namin" (None of the witnesses in the clubhouse, and there were many, ever saw Bino kneel and say that he was only 14 years old at maawa na sila) On the contrary, Bino was acting like anything but a helpless child. He sounded tough, angry, and antagonistic enough that the fight broke out again. At this point, the bodyguards of the Mayor ran into the clubhouse via the poolside entrance. When questioned about this, the mayor said that one was his driver and the other was his "Yayo". As far as the board was concerned, the "Yayo" was also a bodyguard. Said Yayo came into the clubhouse with a clutchbag containing a gun and brought out the gun without pointing it at anyone. The Mayor immediately instructed him that there was no need for guns and the gun was put back. During the investigation, the Mayor said that the handgun was his and that his "yayo" was likely going to give it to him but he declined. Upon instructing his "yayo", the man just stayed in one corner. At this time the wife of Dela Paz and his other son arrived. The son was wielding a baseball bat and the wife had a knife which she pulled out of a scabbard. These two were subdued by security but they were verbally threatening the Pangandaman's during this time. There was also a reported incident where the driver of the mayor ran out and came back with a suitcase containing a supposed armalite as claimed by valley security. The driver never pulled it out or pointed it at anyone but it was readily accesible.