Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. AFP
Updated @ 1:00 a.m., Dec. 24, 2018
MANILA, Philippines — Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. on Sunday urged the Philippine Taekwondo Association to disown forever an Ateneo de Manila University junior high school student who had been caught on video using his martial arts skills on a helpless boy at the school.
“He is a [taekwondo] champion and since he used the skill to hurt a boy—you saw the blood—the [Taekwondo] Association should disown him. Forever,” Locsin said on Twitter.
He disagreed with some senators who had called on the public not to bully the teen, who was mauled by netizens on social media.
READ: Don’t bully the bully, senators ask netizens
He had advantage
“Boy has no problem; fact he had an advantage: made himself a martial arts champion and took it out on a harmless boy,” Locsin said.
“What do you do with someone who has a deadly weapon? Give him a medal or a punch in the face? Christian Brothers gave punches. Cassocked ‘siokis’ give advice,” he said, referring to gay priests.
The Philippine Taekwondo Association had already condemned the bullying incident, involving one of its practitioners.
READ: PH Taekwondo Association slams bullying incident in viral video
It was the second time for Locsin to rail against the student, a taekwondo gold medalist.
Last Friday, Locsin also urged the parents of the bullied kid in one of the viral videos of bullying to “take the law in their own hands.”
READ: Locsin urges parents of bullied kid to ‘take the law in their own hands’
“The parents of the bullied kid should take the law in their own hands. The only way to teach a bully is to beat him senseless,” he said, also in a Twitter post.
“Psychiatric help? He should get traction,” Locsin said of the bully kid.
‘That’s not right’
“You take care of your child only for him or her to get punched and have a bleeding nose? That’s not right,” he said in a radio interview.
Andanar, however, disapproved of the attacks on the student on social media.
“There’s no point to bully the bully online. But the school must act on the matter,” he said.
Ateneo said it had dismissed the student.