Former Ateneo de Manila University student denies bullying, claims self-defense

A Filipino male teenage taekwondo practitioner was caught on camera physically attacking other teenagers. The teenager accused of bullying is a former junior high school student of the Ateneo de Manila University in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines.

“I was just defending myself,” the taekwondo practitioner told Arnold Clavio of GMA News. “Hindi naman ako nam-bully (I did not bully) for no reason.”

However, the teenager contradicted himself in the same interview, which he did with his mother beside him. After saying that there was a reason why he bullied his victims, he claimed that what he did was not bullying.

“Para sa akin, hindi naman bullying ‘yong ginawa ko (For me, what I did was not bullying) because I was also defending myself naman eh (actually), in a way,” the teenager said. “Kaso nga lang (But) in the video, mukhang ako talaga ‘yung mas (I appeared to be the one who was more ) aggressive.”

In the videos that went viral in December 2018 just days before the year-end holiday, the teeanger is seen physically and verbally attacking other junior high school students of the Ateneo de Manila University. He appears to be very dominant as compared to the victims.

The video that caught the attention of the netizens the most show the teenager showcasing his taekwondo skills. He punched and kicked a student who is bigger than him inside the bathroom of the Ateneo de Manila University and the video ends when the latter suffers from a bleeding nose.

According to the attacker, the victim intentionally bumped into him prior to the encounter in the bathroom. The victim even challenged the attacker into a duel, the latter claimed.

For the attacker, it was unfair that the people judged him without knowing what had happened prior to the incidents shown in the viral videos. Still, he acknowledged that what he did was wrong.

“Hindi dapat ako nag-react ng gano’n ka-violent (I should not have reacted that violently),” the attacker expressed. “Nilalabas ko lang ‘yong inis ko sa kanya kasi tapos na nga ‘yong problema tapos hinamon mo pa ako ng suntukan no’ng (I just vented out my irritation towards him because we had already solved the problem but you still challenged me into a duel during out) last subject.”