Balay Mindanaw Foundation, Inc.

Kaangayan, Kalambuan, Kalinaw ... sa Mindanaw, sa Pilipinas, sa Kalibutan

El Capitan holds his punches
By Marc Eliemel Tagub
Posted 21 Julyl 2010

[This is among the articles that will be part of a book Balay Mindanaw is launching soon. “Lawig Kalinaw” will contain peacebuilding stories from the communities.]

	Kapitan Quidet in his farm. Photo: Bobby Timonera

He is short even by Filipino standards, standing just a little over five feet. He’s got a small body frame, too. But you can see the strength in his muscles, made tense over years of farming.

But there’s something else behind those muscles that many of Leonardo Quidet’s constituents may not have known -- that in his early years, the present barangay chairman of Panampawan in Claveria, Misamis Oriental was a warrior, one of the stable of boxers at the Almirante Gym in Cagayan de Oro City. In his short stint as an amateur boxer, he fought five bouts, and lost only one.

He may have the strength of a boxer, but Leonardo has had little use for his fists, other than using his hands for farming -- in growing tomato, cabbage, pepper and other crops in his farm not far from his home. Unless of course someone picks up a fight with him.

Well, some folks did, late in the evening of October 17, 2009. Quidet was surprised by the loud voices of drunks passing by the community basketball court and the sound of stones hitting the roof of a building owned by the barangay. So he went out to check the commotion, and saw the Abatayo brothers, which he believed were responsible for the noise and the stones. He thus advised them to stop, so as not to wake up the sleeping neighbors and to avoid damaging the building the barangay built with meager resources.

The Abatayo brothers apparently thought the barangay chairman, who admitted to having had a little drink at a friend’s house while entertaining some visitors, was hurling insults at them as they denied causing the noise and throwing the stones. Before long, a commotion had started. Whoever threw the first punch is now for the courts to settle, but when cooler heads came to untangle the mess, the back of Quidet’s head was bleeding profusely after it was smashed with a big rock, the elder brother Hesus was grimacing in pain after his face was hit with a solid blow, and the smaller brother Alberto was on the ground wanting to break free as Quidet, on top of him, was throwing punch after punch to his face and body.

Quidet was eventually rushed to the hospital in neighboring Jasaan town, where his wound was stitched.

The warrior that he was, he was itching for a fight the morning after, challenging the Abatayo brothers for one-on-one bouts, right there at the basketball court in the middle of the village for everyone to see. “I may have stitches at the back of my head, but I was sure they couldn’t hit it, and I really wanted to find out who’s man enough,” recalled Quidet. But the Abatayo brothers, already sensing their earlier mistake of engaging their village leader in a fight of two against one, did not show up for the fight.

Kapitan Quidet (right) with the Abatayo brothers. Photo: Bobby Timonera

Reason prevailed, and the barangay chairman overcame the urge to settle things with his fists. Upon suggestions from his family and some friends, he instead filed a court case against the Abatayo brothers. “I was torn between teaching them a lesson and forgiving them for assaulting me, knowing that should they go to jail, their families would lose their sole breadwinners and starve.”

The Abatayo brothers have since apologized for their behavior and asked forgiveness. People around Quidet advised him to pursue his court case to set an example. He also wanted the incident to be documented in the court. Quidet eventually accepted the apology and forgave his attackers, even withdrawing the case from court. He, however, demanded that the Abatayos refund him for the cost of hospitalization.

The Abatayos live farther down the road from the Quidet household, and so it is unavoidable that they pass by the barangay chairman’s house every morning when they go to work, and every afternoon on their way back home. Thus they get to meet almost every day, and have been civil toward each other.

El Capitan did good by holding his punches. But he didn't just hold his punches. He did more -- accepted apology, forgave his attackers, even withdraw the case -- and continue to do good to mend the relationship, accepting them as part of the community. The Abatayo brothers, meanwhile, were repentful and promised not to do it again. All these sum up what many communities have found to be a better way at settling disputes and keeping the peace -- restorative justice.

A healing balm for their relationship came in the form of a mass wedding which Quidet had coordinated for his village. Alberto who had been living in with his partner without the church’s blessings, approached Quidet.

“I asked the barangay chairman for help, and I’m glad that he was too willing to assist me prepare the documents and other requirements,” Alberto said.