Monsour wants bully expelled from taekwondo group

MANILA, Philippines — Amidst the furor generated by the three videos showing an Ateneo high school student bullying classmates, Makati Rep. Monsour del Rosario told The STAR over the weekend that he’s pushing for the boy’s expulsion not just from his school but also from the Philippine Taekwondo Association (PTA).

“But only the board and the bosses of PTA can decide on that,” said Del Rosario, one of the leading authorities on Philippine sports issues having been honored last year as the only non-Korean to be named Man of the Year by Kukkiwon, the official taekwondo governing organization based in Seoul, South Korea.

Del Rosario has been swamped with inquiries what to do with the young bully after it was revealed that the boy is an alleged taekwondo blackbelter and gold medalist. In the first video that has gone viral since last Wednesday, the alleged bully was shown inside what appeared to be a toilet believed to be inside the Ateneo campus, punching and kicking a student, leaving him with a bloody nose. In the second, he beat up another student into submission and in the third, he forced still another student to kneel and touch his shoe or else the alleged bully would beat him up in front of other students.

“Every aspect of the viral videos was hideous, weak and unacceptable,” added Del Rosario. “Yes, none of us is perfect; we all make mistakes and should not judge people loosely. But to the parents of the bully, let’s be very clear here, it is as firm a judgment as you will ever get from me that your son is a failed representation of our beautiful sport.”

Aside from showbiz and politics, Del Rosario’s passion is in taekwondo, the sport that he has ruled since 1982. He was an Olympian on the Filipino taekwondo team in the 1988 Seoul Games and eight-time lightweight champion. He has captured two gold medals for the Philippines in 1987 and 1989 Southeast Asian Games.

Master Don Gordon Bell, US Marines taekwondo master whom Del Rosario considered his senior martial artist brother, described the incident as a “teaching moment for all” in his Facebook account.

“Instead of counter-bullying,” he advised, “the public should learn how to help stop those who misuse their martial arts training of any style and abuse it. Keep an eye on this future leader, he may be a politician someday.”

As an unsolicited advice to parents, Del Rosario said, “Raise your children better. Let’s all raise our children to be better. Let’s raise our sons, particularly those in the martial arts, to be good men.”