For the past couple of days, a caught-on-tape video has gone wildly viral here in the Philippines. The short sub-30 seconds of the video features an MMDA official being man-handled and eventually slapped on the face by a large man, identified as a Robert Blair Carabuena. Aside from knee-jerk reactions of anger, let’s take a look at some lessons we can learn from the Robert Blair Carabuena assault.
Robert Blair Carabuena Assault
There are enough blogs and articles going around right now with angry or indignant reactions to the alleged assault on an MMDA officer. For a change, this article is anything BUT that – enough judgment has been passed on Robert Blair Carabuena to last him a couple of lifetimes.
(VIDEO: Watch the Robert Blair Carabuena caught-on-camera assault)
#3. If a picture ‘says a thousand words’, a video is a novel.
The video appears to tell a viewer a lot in very few words.
Big angry man + uniformed official + assault = incredible story.
Put all of those together and you have a sensational piece of news. Is it, however, really that ‘sensational’? I beg to differ. From personal experience, uniformed officials in the country are regularly berated and disrespected by the common citizen. While that is another topic, this particular case is so special because it was caught on camera and with the unlikely hero of the video, MMDA Officer Saturnino Fabros, not lifting a finger in defense, it’s almost ridiculously easy to paint Robert Blair Carabuena as the ultimate law-breaking citizen.
What now?: To ridicule the man (Carabuena) to the extent of asking his employer to suspend him and take away his livelihood? Let’s just say that giving a negative judgment on a negative action does not constitute a positive reaction. Let the authorities handle it.
#2. Viral videos rarely provide context.
What we have to work with is a clip lasting barely half a minute. There is no concrete beginning to provide a clue as to why Robert Blair Carabuena did what he did. Don’t get me wrong, I do NOT condone his very un-positive treatment of a uniformed official – but that does not mean the man has completely lost all his reasons for his actions. We also have no idea what happened next; for all we know (of course this is improbable, but we never know) they figuratively “kissed and made up” after. So in essence, Robert Blair Carabuena’s entire life has now been seemingly judged after a short, viral video.
What now?: It pays to know all sides of the story. I doubt anything can justify what Robert Blair Carabuena did to MMDA Officer Saturnino Fabros, and yes, it was criminally wrong of him to physically assault a man who ‘was only doing his job’. What I find disturbing is the existence of comments threatening to harm Carabuena physically and “teaching him a lesson”. Two wrongs do not make a right.
#1. Social media can make or break reputation – sometimes overnight.
In just a couple of days, MMDA Officer Saturnino Fabros is society’s hero. I agree with this, based on the video. At no point in time did he seem to fight back with either an angry retort of his own, or to defend himself and hit Robert Blair Carabuena back. It was good judgment on his part, that was. As for Carabuena, it’s unfortunate to have given in to anger and frustration and because of his actions caught on camera, will forever be remembered as a poster boy of road rage. All this, from a well-timed video uploaded by a concerned citizen.
What now?: We may not have an Orwellian ‘big brother’ system, but what we should be aware of is that everyone and anyone around us could possibly be an ‘eye’ for ‘big brother’. Our actions can propel us either to fame or social ‘death’. Is this good or bad? Not necessarily one or the other, and you would have to agree, it will make many of us more careful with our actions.
(RAPPLER: Assault gets Palace’s attention)
Did you like the article? Like it with the Facebook button too!
