The controversy surrounding Nasser Pangandaman has the DAR Secretary (Pangandaman Sr.) appealing to bloggers to “stop the attacks.” While I’m not one to deny Sec. Pangandaman of his inalienable right to cry foul – and yes, many foul statements have been made against his family at this point – he seems to be a little bit on the other side of Zen:
Since Bambee’s blog, the story about the incident in the golf club spread through the Internet.
Bloggers condemned and some even put up a signature campaign for Pangandaman’s resignation.
Pangandaman said his family is hurting because of the bad picture being painted on his name and family.
He appealed to bloggers to stop accusing them on the Web. The secretary even warned bloggers against karma.
“I appeal to the bloggers to stop this. They also have their families, they have parents and siblings. Our family is already hurting. I hope this doesn’t happen to you (bloggers),” the secretary said.
First of all, I don’t appreciate the idea of dragging families into this issue, no matter how arbitrary the term may be. Restraint and prudence should definitely be practiced, but the involvement of both Pangandamans in this issue is not in the interest of malice, but has factual bases.
I was reading some interesting pieces on the issue today, like that of Noemi, Butch, Pat, and Regnard, yet this issue reminds me more of Maupassant’s classic English class requirement than anything else. There is wisdom in the assertion that this is a small issue made big, but there is also wisdom in the assertion that this is an issue that demands action.
That is why we should not forget this issue, and treat it as the black eye that it is. Like every issue, the squabble is a microcosm of a lot of things wrong with the way things are going (OK, here and here and here).
Yet this issue should also be a wake-up call to action. I’m not saying that we should draft an impeachment complaint to sue the pants off the Pangandamans and make Bloggers’ Intervention/Impeachment II, but we should be able to act responsibly and steadfastly when situations call for it. Bitching and whining, yes; but how much of the pakyu and the tanginamo (excuse the Esperanto) frames this issue in terms of what it is? Is it about the squabbles of the rich and the noveau riche, or is it about an injustice taking place?
Yet for all the bitching and whining that is taking place between the Hauchecomes and the Malandains of this issue, we’re pretty much privy to it. Like the villagers who saw the fight between Hauchecome and Malandain as nothing more than a battle of differences between strings and pocketbooks, many still see this as a battle of whodunnit first at the golf course many of us can’t afford to go to.
While they squabble about who struck the other first, some of us fail to frame this issue along - not to separate it from – the many different injustices we all suffer. The fact that something occured means that it cannot be denied.
