MANILA, Philippines—“The world has gone crazy,” declared student golfer Marie Dhel “Bambee” dela Paz on her online journal on the night of Dec. 26, Friday.

And with those words, her blog “Vicissitude” was thrust into the eye of a storm, as an army of bloggers here and abroad read, reacted, and spread her riveting account about what she described as her family’s ordeal on the Valley Golf and Country Club course in Antipolo City allegedly at the hands of the sons of a Cabinet member and his supposed bodyguards.

In a span of hours, the online journal of Dela Paz, a University of Cincinatti student on a golf scholarship, was teeming with visitors who rallied around her in support and commiseration.

Hundreds responded to her story, offering words of comfort and prayers, sometimes even hurling invectives in her behalf.

Most expressed indignation at the beating which Dela Paz’s father Delfin and 14-year-old brother Bino allegedly got from Mayor Nasser Pangandaman Jr., the son and namesake of the agrarian reform secretary, and his golfing companions.

Some called for the resignation of both father-and-son Pangandamans from their posts. Others wanted them imprisoned.

The Pangandamans have denied the allegations that their group started the brawl, alleging it was the Dela Pazes who initiated the fight by hitting one of the Pangandaman sons with an umbrella.

Swirling in cyberspace

Dela Paz’s blog entry drew more than 400 responses from fellow bloggers, many of whom wrote about the story on their own blogs, and linked hers to theirs, with the intention, it seemed, of spreading it in all cyberspace.

The Filipino online forum PinoyExchange.com was among those that posted Bambee’s blog. Some members said that the case would not go any further due to the inadequacies of the justice system.

There were messages denouncing the kind of power exercised by politicians.

Peyups.com, another popular online forum, also had hundreds of messages condemning the attack.

There were several entries denouncing the alleged golf club incident in the Filipino Voices (filipinovoices.com). Madcow Blues (madcowblues.livejournal.com) criticized the staff of the golf club for allowing an incident to happen.

One blogger, Marocharim (http://www.marocharim.com) criticized the re-appropriation of agricultural land into golf courses. “The least you could expect is to demand courtesy and respect from everyone in the [golf] course.”

‘Rotten world’

Blogger da-dan said: “I’m from L.A. and this reached me. Jeezus. That’s why we shouldn’t allow kids to run in politics. People tend to act that way when they think they are above the law. They’re not.”

“This just proves how rotten the world really is,” said dementia, who added that he/she was directed to the blog by a friend’s link.

SASSY MOM said: “This is really sick. That’s what power can do to a person... it’s eating them up.”

“Do you have pictures of your father and brother after the beating? i’ll forward this entry to Winnie Monsod and Mike Enriquez,” nix said.

Golf club staff

Until that Friday, Dela Paz’s blog had been inactive. Her last entry before that was on Dec. 5, 2007, in which she excitedly reported about coming home for the holidays. Her previous entries were like any girl’s diary, containing her musings and observations about life, her friends, school, and golf.

In her Dec. 26 blog entry, Bambee said her family had a hard time initially identifying the assailants because staffers at the golf club were uncooperative.

She recounted: “I came back after the fight was over and talked to the receptionists. They say they did not see anything. The general manager of Valley Golf would not give us the names of the men who made my brother’s ear bleed. It took him an hour. Maybe even more than that. He seemed to not want to help us. Because, we were against the secretary of the Department of Agrarian Reform and the mayor of Masiu City, Lanao del Sur. They were all scared.”

Bloggers and forum members picked up her story and reposted her blog entry, until it resulted in hundreds of angry messages.

Hope for the country

In her latest entry, posted on Dec. 27 at 12:32 a.m. (US time), Dela Paz had a message for her fellow bloggers: “To everyone who has read my blog and is helping my family out, THANK YOU. May God bless you.”

“Now, I truly believe that there is still hope for this country. I am really overwhelmed at how people have commented and how people want to help. Please continue to do so. And PLEASE, PLEASE, continue to pray. And once again, THANK YOU,” she said.