By Raymund B. Villanueva
Social media and the corporate press are abuzz with the anticipated fisticuffs between Davao City acting mayor Sebastian Duterte and Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Nicolas Torre III. The country’s top cop dubbed it a “charity boxing match,” proceeds from which shall be donated to victims of the Typhoon Crising-worsened flooding throughout Luzon and Panay Island.
In a podcast (while the country is drowning) Baste challenged Torre saying, “You are only brave because you have a position. If we had a fistfight, I can take you on.” This outburst was no surprise. A fisticuffs challenge from the younger Duterte is “mild” compared to what his father is being accused of having committed: prolonged mass killing, done gleefully and admitted proudly.
Baste’s beef with Torre probably started when the PNP chief led the search and arrest of long-time Duterte ally and accused human trafficker Apollo Quiboloy in Davao City at about this same time last year. It needs no stretch of imagination to think that the Dutertes tried to talk Torre out of the manhunt, but the police officer had a bigger master to abide to. It was again Torre, then PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) director, who arrested former president Digong who now languishes in prison in The Netherlands awaiting trial for thousands of extrajudicial killings when he was mayor and president. Baste’s anger against the general is so deep he couldn’t help but fire potshots when Torre was made PNP chief. Torre deftly retorted he was a two-star general when promoted to top rank while president Duterte’s first chief PNP was a “mere one star general.”
Torre, bristling with machismo and not wanting to be seen as a coward, readily accepted Baste’s fight challenge. “Nasa kanya na ‘yon. Anytime, I am ready,” he said. He added they can do it under the Queensberry Rules as early as Sunday at the Araneta Coliseum. Later, Torre said the historic Rizal Memorial Coliseum is being readied and some sponsors have already bought into the event. (A casino is rumored to have offered to host the spectacle as well.)
Social media and the corporate press next exploded with clips of both Pacquiao wannabes training, looking not too shabby actually. The clips strongly suggest that the fisticuffs-disguised-as-boxing would not be another of those lame “celebrity matches” that are over after a dozen jabs, a couple of wild swings and a few seconds because the combatants are already gassed up. It looks like both Baste and Torre are no strangers to gyms. It turns out, the general was a member of the Philippine National Police Academy boxing squad in his cadet days. But Baste would have size and age on his side.
On Thursday afternoon, Baste doubled down on the insults. He said on his podcast page: “If you’re really serious about this, kung gusto mo yung charity na ‘yan, and you’ve laid some conditions, then let me lay my own conditions for the event.” Baste said he will fight Torre if he would convince President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and all other elected officials to have a hair follicle drug test for all elected officials. “Huwag kang mag-alala, Torre, kasi matagal ko na talaga gusto maka-bugbog ng unggoy,” Duterte added.
Now, is the acting mayor laying down predicates to prevent the match from happening? He definitely knows that Torre won’t ask his boss to submit to a drug test and Marcos Jr. won’t ever allow himself to be subjected to an independent check. (“Ano siya, bale?” Marcos Jr.’s supporters are expected to ask.) So, if Baste’s condition isn’t met, will he no longer show up to the match he asked for? Will there be a repeat of the time when then mayor Digong did not show up to a gun duel that he asked for against broadcaster Waldy Carbonel in 2003? Like father, like son?
I do not care for Torre as I dismiss Baste as a lame local chief executive. I am the journalist who broke the story that his CIDG arrested an innocent person in Prudencio Calubid Jr. after all. That Torre-led CIDG has yet to explain where (and whose pockets) the P8 million bounty disappeared into.
Kodao board chairperson and journalism professor Danilo Arao has advised against reporting about the hullabaloo, especially while the country is still dealing with the rains and floods. I actually thought of not writing this anymore, but here we are.
My reason is plain. Baste and Torre are supposed public servants who should be spending all working hours dispensing service. Because of their so-called boxing match and their grudges, they’ve spent time training and taking potshots on what is probably official time while receiving salaries paid for by public taxes.
As a taxpayer, I wish the fight to happen. I wish the boys get black-eyes and bruises so bad it would take them weeks to heal. I wish them split lips and cut eyelids needing many stitches to mend. I wish their mouth guards won’t work and several of their teeth would fly far out the ring. I wish them broken noses and jaws that would require surgeries and metal implants to piece together again. I wish them cracked ribs and collar bones so painful they would need the help of caregivers to wash their asses clean for months to come. I wish them busted livers and spleens after the first round. I wish their kidneys to be near falling off after the second round. I wish them carried off the ring in stretchers, oxygen masks shoved on their faces, after their silly fight. I wish they would very near kill each other.
They should train harder and make sure the event of the year happens on Sunday. #
