The policy of Valley golf as it was explained to me was as follows:

On weekends and Holidays, it is 1 guest per member. However, it can be the course superintendent's or club manager's discretion to allow a variation of this provided that the course is not already backed up and that the guests are revenue generating. (these were the conditions approved by the board)

On weekdays, members may bring as many as 3 guests

A minimum of 3 players per flight and not exceeding 4 shall be required in order to tee off before 1 p.m. on weekends and holidays.

Twosomes and fivesomes will only be allowed after 1 p.m. A fivesome must have 2 golf carts to be allowed to tee off.

Again, the superintendent or manager will have the discretion within reason to allow 2 -somes or 5-somes, if the course is not busy or will not pose an inconvenience to the other players on the course.

I don't think there is any palakasan going on or else i'd have heard of it and been the first one to complain. Certainly, some exceptions are made by the designated superintendent or manager but it is done with in certain reasonable parameters.

It seems Bambee's blog entry left out some details, and so did the entry of the mayor's flightmate. If we presume regularity that neither of them is lying, both their stories can still stand together and be consistent. Here my attempt at making a composite entry trying to merge both stories in chronological order. This may perhaps paint a fuller picture:

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On December 26, 2008 at around 11:00am, our group composed of Rene Maglanque, Sec. Nasser Panagandaman, Arnel Estacio and Atty. Faisal Abdullah registered to play with the Valley Golf on the first (1st) flight of our group. The second (2nd) flight was composed of Hussein Pangandaman, Adnan Pacasum, Nasser Pangandaman, Jr. and Farah Locsin. We also registered the eight year old son of Hussein named Angelo Pangandaman whom they cannot leave behind the clubhouse as there will be no one to take care of him.

My brother and I were playing golf at the South Course of Valley. We were on the 3rd hole, and we see two golf carts going past us, overtaking our flight, and setting up to tee off on the next hole. My dad goes up to them and asks them why they would do that, why they would overtake us without even asking for our permission. Golf etiquette 101. One of the guys says that they're with the flight in front of us. (So what? That doesn't give them the right to just pass us WITHOUT asking.)

Nasser Pangandaman, Jr. and Farah Locsin were late. They caught up with their flight (2nd) at hole no. 4 accompanied by a marshall and their caddies riding on two golf carts and in the process overtaking the flight of Mr. Delfin de la Paz who reacted by protesting what seems to be an overtaking of flight. Nasser Jr. explained to the elder De la Paz that they will just catch up and join their flight mates at hole no. 4. He further explained that they, who like them, had earlier lined up to play and were pre-registered. With the said explanation, del Paz replied “Okey, kortesiya lang.”

When the 2nd flight of Nasser Jr. already played hole no. 4 which is a par 3 and Nasser Jr. was still outside of the green trying to pitch his ball into the green, the flight of dela Paz hit their shots into the green which almost hit Hussein without shouting “Fore!”. Surprised, though sensing trouble which they deemed to choose to avoid, they allowed the other Dela Paz player to hit his shot so they can peacefully resume and concentrate on their playing. At this point, the caddy of Nasser Jr also took the 8 year old Angelo to stay behind the golf cart to avoid being hit by golf balls coming from the dela Paz players.


So, we go to the 5th hole. The flight behind us catches up with us, and asks us what caused the hold up. We said that this flight just slipped in front of our flight. So we complained to the marshall.

On the next hole which is hole no. 5, after the 2nd Pangandaman flight hit their drives into the fairway and before they could hit their second shots, again the dela Paz players hit their drives without warning by shouting “fore”! the 2nd Pangandaman flight puzzled and surprised asked themselves why the flight behind them were doing this to them since they could be hit by their golf balls. One caddy even said, “Ano ba yun?”

When the 2nd flight reached the green of hole no. 5 and after holing out, they joined the 1st flight of Sec. Pangandaman and took their snacks. While doing so, the marshall approached and told Nasser Jr. that the dela Paz’s were complaining why they were 5 of them in their group and why they overtook their flight. Nasser Jr. reiterated to the marshall what he explained to the elder dela Paz, which his knowledge the former already accepted his explanation.

Later, unconvinced even after the marshall relayed to him that there were only four (4) and not five (5) in their flight, and that they were not overtaking as they just had to go back to the clubhouse and later join their flight.


We play the 5th hole and walk towards the next hole, where there is a teehouse, and both the flights in front of us were there, talking with the marshall. The mayor of Masiu City, Lanao del Sur talks with my dad. Things get heated up. Voices were raised.

The elder dela Paz came and approached Nasser Jr. already agitated and pointing saying, “Mali ka! There were two carts in your flight and you overtook us!” Nasser Jr. answered, “Akala ko po, Sir, nagkaintindihan na ho tayo kanina”.

Explaining about them not overtaking yet elder dela Paz was not convinced , and at the top of his voice said, “Putang ina ka! Member ka ba dito, ha?, Hindi mo ba ako kilala?”

Nasser Jr. patiently and respectfully explained again to him their side, even using “po” and “Sir” – as a sign of respect without revealing that he is the Mayor of Masiu, Lanao del Sur, and replied, “Bakit po kayo sumisigaw? Hindi po tayo nag-aaway”.

The elder dela Paz reacted, “Ikaw ang naghahanap ng away!”, while pulling his umbrella and thrusted the pointed part and hit the belly of Nasser Jr., while the latter was backing up.

The marshall tried to intervene but the elder Dino dela Paz pressed on which prompted and led Hussein to defend his brother.


But never, in my wildest dreams, did I ever imagine that someone would pull out a punch. Apparently not. He attacks my father. His flightmates, maybe 2 or 3 of them, rush to his aid and beat up my father. My 56-year-old father. My younger brother and I could not just watch. We rushed to break the fight.

Meantine, Nasser Jr., prevented the two (2) younger dela Paz from joining the fight by saying, “Awat na, Awat na”. but they got away from him and went in between their father and Hussein. The two young dela Paz was able to hold Hussein preventing him to reach the elder dela Paz as if “umaawat”. Yet, Bino Lorenzo dela Paz kept punching Hussein in the face and Marie dela Paz from behind kept on scratching his face.

In one instance, the elder Dino dela Paz took hold of a golf club driver and tried to hit Hussein. But, Rene Maglanque was able to get hold of the driver’s shaft and took it away from him.

My younger brother pleads to the mayor to please stop it. To not hurt my dad. To just stop. His words still ring through my head..."Sorry na po, sorry na po...tama na...tama na po..." With his hands in front of his chest in a praying position. PLEADING. The mayor socks him in the face. My brother defended himself. My dad is still on the ground getting clobbered. My brother is the same way. I try to stop the fight, but all I can do is stop one person. There were 4 or 5 of them attacking now.

Someone breaks up the fight. I thought it was all over.

Later on, Sec. Pangandaman, Rene Maglanque, and another golfer from another flight pacified everybody and asked the dela Paz’s to just leave them to prevent further trouble.


The mayor shouts to his caddy: "Hindi nila kami kilala! Sabihin mo nga sa kanila kung sino ako!"

...
I lash out, but my dad held me back. I was screaming my lungs out, shouting to this mayor, telling him about what he had done. I said: "Nakakahiya kayo. Singkwenta'y sais anyos ang tatay ko. And kapatid ko kakatorse anyos. Anong ilalaban nila sayo?"

The mayor looks at my brother, point to his face, and says, "Tatandaan kita!" And he tells me that my brother has a bad attitude and that I need to watch him.

Delfin dela Paz called someone in his cellphone and we heard him say, “Punta kayo ditto! May away kami!”

The dela Paz’s left. And, after about ten minutes, our group also discontinued playing and went back to the clubhouse.

We leave. We walk to the clubhouse to file a complaint. My brother asks for a doctor. My dad could barely walk.

The dela Paz’s left. And, after about ten minutes, our group also discontinued playing and went back to the clubhouse. When Hussein was hurrying up to the bathroom to relieve himself and wash his wounds, the elder Dino dela Paz accosted him and warned him in a threatening voice, “Ikaw mag-ingat ka! Hindi pa tayo tapos! Gagantihan kita!”

Blocking is way to the locker room, Hussein replied, “Hindi ka pa ba umaalis? Sumusobra ka na”, the young Bino Lorenzo went in the middle saying, “Huwag po, fourteen years old lang ako”, and yet having his fist ready to give him a punch.

Their group comes to the clubhouse, sees my brother. Once again my brother pleads, says sorry, and is crying. He was CRYING, for crissakes.

The relentless mayor still punches him in the face, and then sees my dad and goes after my dad again. Him and his friend pull my dad to the ground, pulls at his feet, and steps on him like he's dirt.

Hence, Hussein defended himself and the three engaged in another fist fight.

I run to him and try to hold him back, holding him back by his shirt, while this other guy and this girl tries to stop me. She tells me to just stop it. I scream in her face "they're beating my father up and you want me to stop?!" I pull at his shirt--I don't let go. All I can see was my dad being trampled on. I didn't even see my brother getting beat up.


Maridel dela Paz came from behind Hussein and started scratching Hussein on the right cheek, the neck, and ear, while pulling and tearing his shirt.

Immediately after, they were prevented from further engaging in a fist fight by those present in the clubhouse, the security and other golfers.

People pull them away. I get my dad, and I saw my brother. His right ear was bleeding. I freaked out. I told the receptionists to bring my brother to the clinic. I pull my dad away. People were separating us.

But the elder dela Paz still shouted “Gaganti ako. Hindi pa tayo tapos.”


My mom and my older brother come. I tell her Bino's right ear is bleeding. They both look like they could kill. My dad holds my brother off, I hold off my mom. When I finally got my mom under control, my older brother gets away and I hold him off.

The rest of the dela Paz family arrived, with the eldest son carrying a baseball bat. The wife in “duster” with a bladed weapon in hand, as if ready to assault Hussein. They were likewise prevented by the clubhouse security and other golfers present.

Two of the mayor's bodyguards pull out guns. I embraced my brother from the back, just holding him back, crying. The receptionists came to us, crying, hugging me, my dad, and my mom, whispering to us to just leave. "Maam, umalis na po kayo, may mga baril sila...Maam...umalis na po kayo please..."

At this point, Sec. Pangandaman told his sons to leave already and the dela Paz’s to stop and leave, so that no more untoward incident would happen. Soon, we also left but we had to leave through the parking exit because the dela Paz family was waiting for us at the clubhouse lobby.

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Bambee left out details in her blog, and so did the mayor's flightmate. However, a somewhat fuller picture can be formed reading both accounts together. This is just my attempt to put everything in chronological order and surely some parts may be mixed up.

When you look at the picture, I think it looks like the Pangandamans utilized excessive force which was just more than self-defense.

There is also the portion in the clubhouse where Bino is "pleading" (in Bambee's account), and even the mayor's side's account admits to Bino saying "huwag po, fourteen years old lang ako." It is just not reasonable to have a kid saying those words yet having a fist ready to punch. Clearly, the mayor's side misinterpreted Bino's actions or wanted to instigate more violence. There is no account - even sir rge's - that states Bino instigated any violence in the clubhouse. So again, this part was unwarranted excessive violence towards a young boy.

The clincher to show that excessive violence was indeed employed towards the dela Paz family is in the security guard report on December 27, which states:

The physical injury victims are Mr. Delfin dela Paz Sr. and his son Bino Lorenzo dela Paz, 14 yrs. old.
...
upon reaching the incident scene he saw Mr. Delfin Dela Paz Sr. was bloodied his face and his 14 yrs old son (Bino Lorenzo Dela Paz) was bloodied also his left side ears and many personal bodyguards of Mayor Pangandaman wearing civilian clothes armed with high powered guns.

The Incident Report filed by the security guard, which is perhaps the earliest written third party account of the incident from an eyewitness, mentions the Dela Paz dad and son as the victims. Maybe they did not witness what transpired in the golf course, but they were definitely more bloodied than the Pangandamans.

When one side is outnumbered by the other, and they are the ones who sustain more injuries to the point that even the security guard refers to them as the victims, it can be seen that the force exerted by the other side was unjustified, excessive, and unwarranted.

This is my take in reading both together, now that there already is a security report in it, and of course presuming both accounts are truthful but incomplete although a close-to-complete picture can be painted reading both together.

The Antipolo police and the NBI went to Valley to do their investigation and did their's independently by talking to the witnesses and getting their statements. The same is the case with the Valley Fact Finding committee..

Will it be the whole truth that "everyone must accept"? Can anyone dictate to you what you will and will not accept?? I've read the Holy Bible and there are things in there that I will not accept as truth from a literal or philosophical standpoint. No one needs to accept whatever statement Valley will make regarding their findings. Nonetheless, these will still be the findings and whatever accompanying actions these findings may entail.

Valley can only be as thorough and accurate as the information it is fed. The only prudent thing Valley can do is obtain the statements of non-partisan witnesses and evaluate their probity and probability after which it can use these findings as a means to assess the validity or truthfulness of the statements made by Delapaz and Pangandaman. After the board weighs it's assessments, they will release their decision and formal statement.

From the info I have personally been given, I think I have a pretty plausible explanation and clear delineation of which parties are at fault and the extent of said faults but this is just me. When the statement is released, you to will be able to formulate your own conclusions on this matter. In the meantime we have to wait. My accounts regardless of whether they are accurate representations of what has been explained to me or not, still does not constitute the "official" statement of the club.

I disagree on this because last Friday Dec 30, 2008 during the Pinoygolfer Eyeball, I asked the receptionist if I they will allow me (valley member) to bring 3 guest to the south course. They didn't allow me since it was strictly one member, one guest on holidays. We ended up playing the Executive course. The South course was relatively clear that day. In fact, there were some flights I know with more than 1 guest per member. Maybe the receptionist just did not know the rules.

You might have had better results if you had spoken to the starter. The receptionists will always recite the policies to the letter. The starter will be able to radio the super or the manager to ask if an exception can be made by explaining the present occupancy of the course. The receptionists are not in a position to make this assessment hence the standard reply. Hope this helps.

i told you naman, the person to talk to was bong vilchez.

Jick, this statement, coming from a lawyer (which I understand you are), revives at least two issues previously brought up. Does it reflect the law's take on the following?
1) If a rumble is instigated by A with B. A is the aggressor. C, D, and E jump in to help B. The rumble becomes totally one-sided against the instigator. A is beaten to a pulp, but has no lasting injuries. Is the force exerted by B's group "unjustified, excessive, and unwarranted" just because they outnumber A? If B had beaten A to a pulp all on his own, would the law see this differently?
2) I referred earlier to an eye for an eye, versus two eyes for an eye, and so on. No one would argue that if someone pokes you with an umbrella, and you kill him in return, this is "unjustified, excessive, and unwarranted". But are there legal precedents in which a court has upheld that a certain level of violence in response to an attack is justified, and by how much can that violence exceed the violence of the instigator?
Certainly in financial matters, the punishment exceeds the crime. If you steal P100 from me, you must repay the P100, plus, plus. How many pluses are permissible in an act of violence?
I'm just talking from a legal standpoint here. From an emotional standpoint, we've already had a lot of input, such as (paraphrasing), "If you poke me with an umbrella, I'll stick it where the sun don't shine"

I was going to ask the marshalls, but the process is too complicated. (the players already paid Executive Fees) In fact, receptionist said after the "fighting incident" they were stricter. Anyway, we all really enjoyed the executive course. I've never seen the executive greens as fast.

some questions i would like to throw in...

whats with the biased title? Mayor Beats up 14 year old in valley golf?

how involved is pinoygolf in this issue that some members/marshals of the forum need to call the GM of Valley Golf for clarifications?

how far do we go to destroy people we dont even know?

is hiding behind a forum reason enough to do so?

this is getting to be a circus! and to think none of us are even involved.

just my 2 cents.

The instigator of the fight is sometimes not that significant in criminal law. For example, A and B get into an argument and B throws the first punch but A happens to have a gun and shoots him dead, then B would still be charged for homicide.

In this case, child abuse as defined under RA 7610 may have been committed, and the physical injuries under the Revised Penal Code was inflicted upon Bino and Delfin. The Pangandamans could probably claim self-defense.

As provided for in law and jurisprudence, these are the grounds for self-defense:

"For self-defense to prosper, the following requirements should be met: (1) unlawful aggression on the part of the victim; (2) reasonable necessity of the means employed to prevent or repel it; and (3) lack of sufficient provocation on the part of the person defending himself."

Here are some annotations on the elements:

"Unlawful aggression presupposes an actual, sudden, and unexpected attack, or imminent danger thereof. The person defending himself must have been attacked with actual physical force or with actual use of weapon."

Just to get an idea, there was one case that ruled that "the (accused's) act of stabbing (the victim) six (6) times can no longer be considered justified or a legitimate self-defense because of the unreasonable necessity of the means he employed."

So assuming all accounts are somewhat correct, this is a possible take on the incident:

In The Golf Course -- Assuming arguendo dela Paz threw the first poke, it would not be "actual, sudden, and unexpected" because they were already raising their voices in a confrontational mode. But this incident in the golf course is still a bit more complicated to determine because of Bino allegedly wielding a driver, and Hussein also coming in to throw some punches. This would need a very careful and thorough examination, but from Bambee's account, the implications of the security guard incident report, and the fact that they were outnumbered, it seems the Dela Paz's sustained the brunt of the injuries. So the means used to repel the attack was no reasonable.

In The Clubhouse -- This part is where it terribly went overboard. From all accounts, it seems Delfin no longer was wielding his umbrella, and Bino was no longer wielding his driver. They had nothing but "bare fists" so to speak. There was no mention even of Bino throwing the first punch. In the clubhouse, was there unlawful aggression that was sudden and unprovoked employed against the mayor? Was there reasonableness to the means he and his group employed, which was beating up Delfin and Bino with them lying already in the floor? It is in finding this reasonableness where the numbers of the Pangandaman group with their bodyguards are significant to contrast to the numbers of the Dela Paz group.

Based on the accounts available so far, it would seem that the Pangandaman side definitely went overboard, especially in the clubhouse. It would be akin to the case above where the person stabbed the victim six times and still claimed self defense by the court junked it.

Again, everything I say here are just based on the very limited facts at our disposal. A court case would be much more exhaustive and will have all the bases covered which means it will be time-consuming too.

Let me start by saying that I understand your intentions are good.

However:

a. We are all involved in this in a similar way that we must all be involved in acts of abuse and corruption that happen in the Philippines even if we don't seem to be directly involved. It is unfortunate that this happened but let us hope that our vigilance in this will prevent similar future events in and out of the golf course.

b. I don't know that anyone from PG other than members of Valley Golf have approached Valley. Certainly nothing said in this forum tells us that this has been done. However, even if they did, when something this big happens, it is only natural for people from different groups (not just PG) to approach Valley and inconvenience their board, officers, employees, and even members. This is unfortunate but it is a fact of life that Valley Golf will need to accept for the next little while. I also don't think it is useless if it eventually ferrets out the truth which is what we're trying to accomplish here. When more people talk, you are bound to uncover more things to piece out the puzzle.

You made mention of PG marshals (plural) approaching Valley Golf about this issue. Do you know this for a fact? Did they approach Valley Golf in their official capacity as Marshals of PG? If so, then we need to clarify with MGB if this was done with PG approval.

With regards to the title of this thread, I think someone (I assume jick who authored the thread) has already changed it. However, although the original title might conjure emotions, it was by no means biased because even the Mayor is not denying his group beat up a 14 year old kid. He does claim self defense in doing so. I would say the original title was factual but not emotionally objective.

Thanks.

With at least 3 investigating bodies, lets hope that the TRUTH finally comes out.

Personally speaking I am of the opinion that the important truth has come out, that being that the old De La Paz was the instigator of the fight that led to his being beat up and the consequent beating that was endured by both the son and daughter when they went to his defense.

Even the children were participants in creating an atmosphere of tension as they, being good golfers, drove into the Panganaban flight twice. This is not a mistake. It is an act of aggression. Any of us would become tense and inclined towards hostility if we were driven into as we are all very much aware of how much damage a golf ball can do to us. Whether they did so at the behest of their Father or did so on their own, it was an act of hostility and reckless of the harm that could have been done.


Shambles

Let's put things in perspective, shall we?

At the time the incident broke, the only information that we had was that from Bambee's blog. Based on that account there was the expected indignation from an apparently despicable act. But if you followed the thread as more information (especially from rge) came to light, I think you'll notice that the tone of most of us changed from the anger at the Pangandamans to the disbelief that Mr. de la Paz would instigate such a fracas and involve his children.

Given these circumstances, I think our collective reaction was warranted given the amount of information that we had at the time. Jick who started the thread, recanted his position and apologized to rge and others involved, so I don't see the point of the post above. I've followed the thread from day 1 and have myself changed my tone based information that's come to light as the investigation proceeded and as the omitted information became known.

In fact I think the PG'ers that participated in this thread exhibited the good sense to change their tunes as soon as reg broke the whole story.

I'm curious as to which of the marshalls you know called Valley to obtain information. I made inquiries, but did not call Bong Vilchez (whom I know personally) for my information.

So I'm curious what brought on your post.

at this point, i have to say that i truly admire the enthusiasm by which fellows PGers, who also happen to be members of Valley golf, have tried to ferret out the truth behind what happened. i can only wish that if this kind of incident ever happens in Riviera, some of our members would be as enthusiastic in defending the reputation of the club.

having said this, i propose that our next EB should be held in Valley golf. let's do it soon para fresh pa ang tsismis tour