Who is the Man Whose Bags Tripped the Elderly Lady at the Bacolod Airport

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The moment that Mrs. Rosario Hofileña of Barangay Taculing fell face down at the Bacolod-Silay Airport as captured from the CAAP’s CCTV.

This was my original article on the Bacolod Airport accident: An Accident at the Bacolod-Silay Airport and the Inhumane Responses.

Now many people have been wondering who was that man who put his bags in the way, thereby causing the lady to stumble. I have read many comments and they were nasty. But what earned the ire of netizens is not because he put his bags there but because the mystery man did not even flinch at the woman’s fall, did not offer to help, and worse, did not even apologize. He just calmly walked away from the scene like he was not fazed by it or not connected to it at all.

When my husband first showed me the video that was going viral on Facebook, I froze. I told him, “I think I know this person.” But I wasn’t sure, especially when I took a screencap. I went on to write my previous article. But as soon as I posted it, I started receiving private messages from friends who also know him personally. They confirmed my suspicions. Well, while we do have mutual friends, I am not really friends with him, who happens to be from a prominent family in the city. And I have not confirmed his identity to any one of his family members. But I know I am right. He is the one whom I had a couple of professional dealings with in the past. Yet I doubt if he could even remember me.

One person told me to shut it because it’s his friend. Well, that’s too bad because that was his doing. But I wouldn’t exactly shout to the whole world who the man is either. I can only comment on his actions. Some of his family members are my friends, too, and I think this issue has caused a lot of pain already. At his age, I believe that he never would have imagined being cyber-bullied. And being cyber-bullied is not a very nice experience. His lawyer, I believe has reached out to the family. From what I have gathered in the news, he has apologized and offered financial help to the family, but would rather remain anonymous for obvious reasons.

I have also read about the possibility that a case might be filed against him. Honestly, I have to ask, what case? I really feel bad about the victim at the airport, but honestly, if a case was filed, I think there would be no substance. I am no lawyer but it was clearly an accident. However, it was a situation that an apology could have assuaged.

The moment the mystery man walks away with his bags without even offering an apology to the lady.

No, I will not tell you who the mystery man is. Even if I will not be held liable in court for doing so, I would not put him or his family in danger.

But if ever, we can all learn from this situation.

1. We now know that we should never put our bags like that near the X-ray machine at the airport. It could trip somebody and result in a bad fall. And of course, it causes congestion to the area.

2. Many public areas now have CCTV cameras while most people also carry cellphones with cameras that can catch our actions and the footage captured may be uploaded and become viral (you wouldn’t want a footage of you picking your nose in public going around, right?). Just take for example that New Zealand couple office sex romp recently at Christchurch Insurance that was captured by party-goers from a building across the street. Now that is one nasty mess.

3. An act of kindness big or small will surely go a long way to our favor.

May we all learn from this mistake and move on.

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