Ateneo de Manila UAAP basketball player John Apacible could be charged for a number of offenses: driving under the influence of alcohol and assault being among the most serious of these.
In the Philippines, if you have a protocol plate, you’re allowed to drive drunk and do this for all to see.
From Yan Bote: “Along Timog Avenue in Quezon City. Plate number ACA-7111. Lasing na lasing yung driver tapos nanggulpi ng driver ng delivery van at nanghampas ng dumadaang kotse tapos nanggigitgit ng mga sasakyan. Di man lang hinuli ng mga pulis. Hinayaan pa magdrive kahit lasing at may mga nagrereklamo.”
[Tagalog portion translated: “The driver was very drunk and he beat up a driver of a delivery van and struck passing vehicles and cut them off [as he drove off]. The police made no effort to arrest him and allowed him to continue driving even if he was clearly intoxicated.”]
The video clip was originally published by automotive magazine site Top Gear Philippines on the 18th October 2015.
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The Apacible incident illustrates what is wrong with the Philippines on so many levels.
(1) Rude behaviour
The way Apacible behaved was quite typical — a feeling of entitlement on the basis of his being related to a government official, and a quickness to resort to physical violence.
(2) Toothless law enforcement
Under Republic Act 10586, persons caught driving under the influence of alcohol are subject to severe penalties. This law was enacted on the 27th May 2013 but it was only this year “fully-enforced”. According to Section 6 of the Act; it is the duty of a law enforcement officer who suspects a person in violation of this law to “bring the driver to the nearest police station to be subjected to a drug screening test and, if necessary, a drug confirmatory test as mandated under Republic Act No. 9165.”
Clearly, the police officers attending to Apacible did nothing of the sort. Just the same, Apacible’s behaviour could be interpretted as a “refusal to subject oneself to mandatory [alcohol and chemical] test” as stipulated in Section 8 of the Act which attracts punishment in the form of “confiscation and automatic revocation of his or her driver’s license, in addition to other penalties provided herein and/or other pertinent laws.”
(3) Disproportionately light sanctions applied by the Ateneo de Manila University
An official memo issued by the Ateneo on the 19th of October and signed by University Athletics Office Director Emmanuel Fernandez reads…
It has come to our attention that John Apacible, a member of the Ateneo Blue Eagles, behaved in an unacceptable manner during an early Sunday morning encounter. John deeply regrets his reprehensible behavior and sincerely apologizes to all parties concerned. Rest assured that the Blue Eagles Team Management as well as the Loyola Schools will deal with this regrettable incident appropriately and swiftly.
But a statement released by Blue Eagles Team Manager Epok Quimpo today alluded to disiplinary action not proportionate to the gravity of Apacible’s offenses to society…
John made a mistake and it will not be tolerated. This is his own doing which will result to disciplinary actions:
1) He will face game suspensions.
2) He will not be allowed to practice.John apologized to the whole team including the coaching staff and management. His teammates will be supporting him through this trying time, more so in the faith that he will become a better Atenean. CURA PERSONALIS.
But it wasn’t his team that was directly impacted by his behaviour. Where is the apology to the public?
The Code of Discipline of the Ateneo is articulated in Section III of the Ateneo de Manila University Student Handbook (2102 Edition) and spells out the University’s expectations of how its students are to behave off campus…
Students should bear in mind that any of their off-campus activities should not directly or indirectly tarnish the name of the school, especially in reference to the values and the principles it stands for.
Furthermore;
As a general principle, cases are considered major if any of the following conditions are present: against the laws of the land, endangering the life and safety of the members of the community, recidivistic, or against the core principles of the Ateneo de Manila University. Students can be suspended, dismissed or expelled for these reasons.
Part IV, Item B of the Code of Discipline includes expulsion as one of the penalties for major offenses. In this light, Quimpo may have to re-evaluate his public statement and defer to due process as described in the Student Handbook.
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This case will be a test of Philippine society’s resolve to live by the modern principle of rule of law. Filipinos should follow this case and remain vigilant and ensure that this incident is not reduced to another case of social privilege trumping the Law again.
benign0 is the Webmaster of GetRealPhilippines.com.
There is no rule of law in the Philippines. Only arbitrary enforcement against those who can’t buy the judges off. It is a lawless country run by lawless people with no morals.
Is the Drunk Dude , above the Law of our country?
Where are the Police? They are afraid to arrest this guy, for drunk driving, assault, and public scandal?
His school is also giving him, a soft slap on his wrist, for such grave violation of the law of our country.
There should be pressure on the PNP chief too. Any word from the Chief?
People are demanding for the dismissal of the two bimby cops.
This deplorable conduct will only put the spotlight on parents, school and company. These parties could be fair game in assigning blame. Then again they might not. This incident might be just a ‘one-off’ occurrence, and Mr. John Apacible’s is really a nice boy. The only glaring fault and failure in this sordid affair is the absence of any real apology from Mr. Apacible’s himself, his parents and his School.. and this says volumes about them.
Sent from my iPad
Role model?
Ass clown!
Here’s a guy who should be punched in the throat. Where is Police brutality when you need it?
This MOFO should get more than just arrest. He should be ass raped by 100 inmates in prison.
Fans of Ateneo or whatever shitty school he was from must shoot yourselves on the foot.
If Du30 should run and win, the first he will do is to fix PNP. Right now, PNP stands for Pasakit Ng Puta.
What sets our species apart is not just what men will do to other men, but how tirelessly they justify it.
My recommendation for this incident.
for the driver
1. Expulsion in Ateneo
2. Fine and imprisonment for drunk driving, alarm and scandal, damage to property, assualt
for the police patola
1. Administrative case, he must be remove from service
So that’s why I’m voting Duterte for next year’s election and we really need discipline in our country at bawal ang mga pasaway at mga HARI NG DAAN!!! I’ll gonna show this to his official FB/Twitter acct & I’ll tell him that he should reconsider his decision for not running on president by next year. Haay! Kaya nakakahiya ito sa atin para sa buong mundo. 🙁
I daresay that if you can mete out the appropriate punishment for the behavior of this guy, then you have no reason to fear a return of martial law.
yes, a return of martial rule in our country minus the dictatorship & corruption, aka Duterte style. 😉
Apacible’s actions clearly demonstrate #TheAteneoWay
Suffer the consequence. He should man-up to what he did. Otherwise, wala siyang bayag!
And, oh, the school should shut their traps, and should also discipline him according to their school rules.
“Dura lex, sed lex”.
And also, sanction those police officers for failure to perform their duties.
Dapat dyan linalatigo mga spoiled brats na yan.