DAR chief’s son tagged in golf attack
By Beverly T. Natividad
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 20:48:00 12/27/2008
Filed Under: Golf, Human Rights, Government, Crime, Golf club mauling incident
MANILA, Philippines -- The son of Agrarian Reform Secretary Nasser Pangandaman and several persons beat up a 14-year-old boy and his father at a golf course in Antipolo on Friday, the victims complained Saturday.
The alleged attackers were identified as Nasser Pangandaman Jr., mayor of Masiu, Lanao Del Sur, and his armed bodyguards. The victims, Delfin De La Paz and his family, said the Cabinet member witnessed the incident at the Valley Golf Club but did not stop his son and their bodyguards from attacking the victims.
De La Paz filed the complaint immediately after the incident on Friday with the Antipolo police, who said the charges would be filed on Monday.
De La Paz said the incident started with an altercation after the Pangandamans allegedly broke golf etiquette by playing out of turn and overtaking 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 flight also included Paysal Abdulaa, Mohammed Hussein, Abdan Pacasuna, Rene Maglaque, and Arnel Astacio.
De La Paz said he complained to the marshal and an altercation ensued when the two groups caught up with each other at the tee house on Hole No. 5.
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.
Bambee, in an e-mail to friends, said they decided to stop playing and retreated to the clubhouse to seek medical attention, but their attackers followed them to the clubhouse. This time joined by their bodyguards, the Pangandaman group again attacked father and son. Bambee said two of the mayor’s bodyguards pulled out their guns.
She said that while Secretary Pangandaman did not participate in the attacks, he did not lift a finger to stop his son and his companions from beating the victims.
De La Paz’s 14 year-old boy suffered various facial, head, and back injuries due to the blows he received. The family plans to file charges of child abuse, among other cases, against the assailants.
‘‘This is a golf course. I have been a golfer all my life and I have never seen anything like this,’’ Bambee said. ‘‘And I thought golfers were decent people. You would think politicians were decent people.’’
Efforts to reach Secretary Pangandaman for comment on Saturday 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 as of posting time Saturday.
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