Is he a member of the inhuman race?
Who is Pol Chris Idrik Costin? Is he for real?
If he is, indeed, among us, does he deserve to be a member of the human race?
What about Enrico Mongaya?
These questions continue to cry for answers a full week following the bloody football game free-for-all involving two under-18 squads in Cebu City last Sunday.
* * *
The two teams, Sacred Heart-Ateneo de Cebu and Alcoy FC, have been booted out of the current Aboitiz Cup tournament.
Both coaches of the involved teams have been meted six-month suspensions each.
Five players from Alcoy FC and five from Ateneo de Cebu were also suspended for six months.
* * *
Based on sketchy field reports, the brawl, which exploded in the 37th minute of the first half, was triggered by a slur on members of the Alcoy club, who were allegedly berated as poor and therefore ignorant about the game. Alcoy is a fifth-class municipality in Cebu.
As expected, the Cebu Football Association conducted an investigation and readily slapped the penalties.
In Manila, Philippine Football Association president Mariano Araneta welcomed the sanctions.
He expressed satisfaction that Cebu football officials did not take the incident sitting down.
Araneta was also quoted as saying the sanctions and penalties should send the message that violent behavior won’t be tolerated in the future.
* * *
The prestigious 16-year-old Aboitiz Cup resumes.
But hold it for a moment, please.
There are still two violent incidents that need to be seriously looked at.
As reported by Marc Giongco of Inquirer online, “a Facebook post by a parent, Nene Miyagi, who claims her son, Ateneo player Kintaro, took blows from a spectator, has also gone viral on social networking sites.”
The report said Mrs. Miyagi wrote that the spectator, whom she identified as Pol Chris Idrik Costin, “came out of nowhere and suddenly punched my son’s right eye that caused him to fall before being hit in different parts of the body.”
The mauling, Mrs. Miyagi said, resulted in bruises and cuts on the part of her son.
Mrs. Miyagi has vowed to file charges against her son’s alleged assailant.
* * *
Maybe football authorities did not see it fit, or did not find it their duty to investigate the criminal assault.
There was another assailant, identified as customs police officer Enrico Mongaya, who beat up an Alcoy goalkeeper. Photos of Mongaya hitting the Alcoy keeper’s head with what looked like a hard object also went viral, as well as a photo of the bloodied kid.
The parents of the Alcoy player are also keen on filing charges.
* * *
There was an outcry, mainly after frozen shots of the attack were shown on television.
Meanwhile, councilor Louie Espinosa, a tested sportsman in Mandaluyong City, said he would like to help the parents involved in filing charges.
“If our sports officials, like those in the Philippine Olympic Committee, would let this criminal act pass, it’s our duty as peace-loving citizens to move,” Espinosa said.
* * *
(BONI’S BABY: Last Thursday, March 20, the 104th anniversary of the fabled Kapisanang Star in Poblacion, Mandaluyong City was celebrated with various sporting activities. Councilor Espinosa says the association was founded by the late Mayor Bonifacio Javier. Boni Avenue in Mandaluyong got its name from the tall, venerable guerrilla leader also known as the heroic Laki’s.)
