Knock 'em dead

Well, we knew who won that boxing match.

- Joseph T. Gonzales [e-mail]

After acting Davao Mayor Baste Duterte issued, in true barumbado fashion, a fisticuffs challenge against PNP chief Nicolas Torre III, a nation swamped by and truly sick of rainwaters was suddenly energized. Keyboards were activated, and memes generated. After all, where else but this country can you find a middle-aged cop itching to get into a fistfight with a mid-30’s macho man?

Or, rather, it was the mid-30’s macho man who was itching to get into said fight with a middle-aged cop. It was Baste, after all who, out of nowhere, thought of resorting to the time-honored tradition of settling disagreements with fists. And out of his runaway mouth came the ultimatum: fight me!

And unfortunately for him, his challenge was accepted. Police Chief Torre gamely took Baste’s dare, and along the way, repurposed it to suit his own persona. The good chief asked that, considering the flood victims now wallowing in the wake of successive typhoons and the detritus of our own pollution, their forthcoming boxing match be done for charity. Then he started training. Then details of his boxing prowess started coming out. Uh-oh.