A woman who claims to have witnessed
the Sunday airport brawl involving columnist Ramon 'Mon' Tulfo and
celebrity-couple Raymart Santiago and Claudine Barretto is corroborating
the claims of the actors that Tulfo had kicked Barretto in the moments
just prior to the melee.
The woman, who had also arrived at the
airport's Terminal 3 within the same hour as Tulfo and Santiago and
Barretto, said she was within 20 meters and "hearing distance" of the
three personalities last Sunday when the fight - captured and made
infamous by a video posted on YouTube - erupted. By the woman's
estimate, up to 100 other people - airport workers as well as mostly
passengers from various flights standing around baggage carousels - also
witnessed the incident.
"We saw this woman ranting at these
personnel over what I presumed was lost baggage," the alleged witness
going by the pseudonym "Anna" told InterAksyon.com over a phone
interview. "But what really made me turn and take notice was when she
started addressing this man in a photographer's jacket."
Anna says she did not recognize
Barretto, her husband, Raymart, nor Tulfo, and did not realize who they
were until she got home and some hours later saw news reports and the
YouTube video of what transpired next.
"The woman started shouting, 'Abusado
yan!' and 'Are you taking photographs of us?'" She said she saw "the man
in the gray shirt" - apparently referring to Santiago - approach "the
man in the photographer's jacket" - Tulfo - asking, "Ano 'yan? Ano
'yan?"
Tulfo, she said, started making "fast"
movements, "not really punches the way a boxer would do, but more like
kung fu moves." He jabbed and "pushed with a kick" - a hand and a foot
moving forward simultaneously - apparently trying to create space and
ward off the approaching Santiago. Tulfo has acknowledged shoving
Santiago, saying the actor was trying to confiscate his cellphone.
"Sinapak niya," Anna said, though she could not say exactly where
Santiago was hit.
Claudine then started approaching as
well, Anna said. Tulfo again moved with his arms and legs, while
Claudine was shouting, "What are you doing?" the witness said. "Tumili
si Claudine, and at this point, security was rushing," Anna said. She
then noticed how Tulfo hid his phone in a breast pocket, and, with empty
hands waving the air, "mocked" Claudine. "Wala, wala akong cellphone,"
Anna quoted Tulfo.
At this point, Anna said, "we had
thought that the whole thing was about this dirty old tourist who was
taking pictures of this lady. And so we were actually trying to support
her." She admits she wasn't aware of Tulfo's own claimed context behind
Sunday's confrontation. The Philippine Daily Inquirer columnist, radio
commentator and TV5 talent says he was taking pictures to document
Barretto's behaviour towards the Cebu Pacific ground crew, which he
suggested had gone from being rude to being abusive.
In any case, Anna said, they could
only make out how Tulfo had hidden his phone and was denying he even had
one on his person. "Nasa bulsa ang cellphone! Nasa bulsa ang
cellphone!" Anna said. Santiago and Barretto supposedly asked aloud if
there were any policemen or security personnel who could compel Tulfo to
give up his cellphone. Anna quotes Barretto as saying, "Hanapin niyo
ang cellphone. Pakita niyo sa akin." Within arm's length, supposedly, of
Tulfo, she was egging on security personnel to get Tulfo's phone,
ostensibly to verify whether or not he had taken pictures of Barretto.
Then, Anna said, "We saw him assault
Claudine." She said Tulfo "pushed and kicked" again. "Natamaan si
Claudine. I can't say where exactly, but sa may thigh area," she said.
That, Anna said, is what caused Santiago and his companions to pounce on
Tulfo. "The video that we saw and that everybody has seen, that was the
end of the whole thing na." She insists that Tulfo's account of the
incident, as she's seen in the news, "is not correct."
Meanwhile, In her sworn affidavit,
airport security guard Eden Modejas said she saw Barretto berating Cebu
Pacific ground staff Cid Charisse Bocboc and Kristine Anne Ilagan.
Modejas said Barretto was shouting at the 2 Cebu Pacific personnel,
catching the attention of airport staff and other passengers.
Modejas said it was during Barretto's
tirade that she noticed a commotion about five meters from where she
was standing. She used her two-way radio to call for back up because
Barretto’s husband, Raymart Santiago, was attacking a male passenger
despite the presence of other security guards pacifying the scuffle.
Modejas did not mention anything about
Tulfo allegedly kicking or shoving Barretto. Santiago earlier said he
attacked Tulfo when he saw the veteran journalist kick and shove his
wife. Meanwhile, Bocboc and Ilagan, in their handwritten statement
submitted to airport police, said that Barretto was fuming mad and was
demanding for an explanation for their missing luggage.
They said the actress wanted to get
the name of the Caticlan manager as to who offloaded their luggage.
Bocboc said Barretto did not want to listen to their explanation on why
her luggage was offloaded. They said Barretto demanded a round-trip
ticket in exchange for the delay of her bags. Bocboc and Ilagan said
they were talking to Barretto in front of the passenger assistance
counter when they noticed Santiago assaulting a male passenger. The 2
airline staff made no mention of Tulfo allegedly kicking or shoving
Barretto while they were at the passenger assistance counter.
Airport sources said this is not the
first time that Claudine figured in a “drama” at the airport. Two years
ago, when she and Raymart Santiago missed their Los Angeles flight
because they came late and the counter was already closed, Claudine
allegedly confronted one of the supervisors and told him “baka gusto
mong mawalan ng trabaho kung di mo kami pasasakayin, isang tawag lang
iyan.” The supervisor called the gate and asked the pilot to spare a few
minutes before pushing back from the tube to accommodate the showbiz
couple.
Source: ABS-CBN, GMA News and Interaksyon
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