COTABATO CITY (MindaNews / 3 January) – For their lewd gestures during the New Year revelry showing their asses on video that went viral, about a dozen young men have been penalized to do community service, ordered to clean a portion of city hall.
One of the youth twerking on the streets of Cotabato City during the New Year revelry. A few times, they brought down even their underwear.
Cotabato City Mayor Bruce Ali Matabalao has ordered to locate the whereabouts of the offenders, but five has so far voluntarily surrendered to the mayor the morning after.
Their gestures caught the ire of the conservative Bangsamoro community.
The group of young men were filmed along the busy Sinsuat Avenue during the New Year revelry, banging a kulintang while yelling, dancing, and twerking, some without shirts, some wearing only underwear.
A few times, some of them brought down their pants to show their asses.
The others covered their faces with T-shirt while teasing passersby.
Several negative reactions have sparked on social media.
Some commented: “This is destroying the image of Bangsamoro Muslims, this should not be tolerated.”
A repost of the video by Facebook user Naol added the text: “Dapat bang gawin ng isang Moro ito?”
Immediately after Matabalao ordered the search for the offenders, five of those involved reported to the mayor at city hall.
Two of them are minors, and admitted to the rude acts they performed on the streets.
“We were just overwhelmed with our feelings, we admit we made lapses and we are sorry for that,” said of those involved during the live Facebook post of Mayor Matabalao.
The search is on for those who still have not reported to city hall as their friends already named them.
In the mayor’s live post, many netizens lauded the action of the city government.
Matabalao posted pictures of some of the offenders starting their community service Tuesday morning, cleaning the grounds of city hall.
Among the lewd performers on Cotabato City’s streets on their first day of community service, cleaning the grounds of city hall. Photo courtesy of the Cotabato City Government
Meanwhile, the traditional firing of gun of some irresponsible gun owners remain a problem in the city.
Luckily, despite the reported slugs that landed in populated areas, no one was hurt.
At a local mixed martial arts gym studio here, a slug of a 9mm caliber gun created a hole at the roof.
Hasan Abdulrahman, the owner of the gym, said they were about to close the building 11 p.m. last Saturday, an hour before the New Year revelry, when they heard the crashing sound from a fallen object at the roof, then they saw the slug on the floor.
“I am also a gun owner but how come some gun owners are so irresponsible?” a dismayed Abdulrahman said in a phone interview.
Fireman Justin San Luis was enjoying a drinking session with family and friends in his house during the merrymaking when something slammed at the roof. He later found a caliber .45 slug that punched a hole on his ceiling.
Guaimad Adam Jr. posted on social media that a slug landed at their compound.
Police has been monitoring the areas of Roales St., TV Juliano Extension, and Mother Rosary Heights as point of reference of those sources illegal discharges of firearms during the New Year revelry.
None of the violators have been caught as of this moment. (Ferdinandh Cabrera / MindaNews)
