San Juan City Mayor Francis Zamora on Tuesday, July 2, presented to the media "Boy Dila," the man seen in a viral video shooting a motorcycle rider with a water gun while sticking out his tongue during the Wattah! Wattah! Festival on June 24.
The viral "Boy Dila" was identified as Lexter Castro.
During a press conference, Zamora himself admitted that he also got mad at Castro because his act tainted the image of San Juaneños and the city.
He also apologized to all people who were affected and hurt, whether physically or emotionally, because of the bad behavior of some residents during celebration.
"Muli ako po ay humihingi ng pasensiya at paumanhin sa lahat po ng naapektuhan o nabiktima ng iilang mamamayan po namin nang dahil po sa aming kapistahan (Once again, I ask for forgiveness and apologize to all those who were affected or victimized by some of our citizens because of our festival)," Zamora said.
"At isa nga po sa talagang pinanggagalingan ng galit ng napakaraming tao na ako mismo talaga ay nagalit din ay ito nga pong si Lexter, sapagkat 'yung mga videos po na kumakalat na kung saan ay binabaril niya ng water gun 'yung isang nagmomotor at nilalabas niya ang kaniyang dila. Ito po ay sa kasamaang palad ang naging mukha ng ating Wattah! Wattah! Festival sa taong ito (And one of the real sources of anger of so many people, that even I was really mad about, was Lexter, because the videos that are spreading show him shooting a motorcycle rider with a water gun while sticking out his tongue. Unfortunately, this became the face of our Wattah! Wattah! Festival this year)," he added.
Castro publicly apologized for what he did, especially to the rider whom he doused with water. He also admitted that his bad behavior reflected poorly on their city.
"Unang-una po nagpapasensiya po ako sa aming mayor sa nagawa ko po. Dahil po sa akin nasira po ang [imahe ng] San Juan. Sa lahat, humihingi po ako ng paumanhin sa inyo sa mga nasabi ko po sa inyo lalung-lalo na po sa rider, humihingi po ako ng tawad sa inyo at gusto ko po kayong makita ng personal... gusto ko pong humingi sa inyo ng paumahin po (First of all, I apologize to our mayor for what I did. The image of San Juan was destroyed because of me. To everyone, I apologize for what I did, especially to the rider. I want to see you personally and apologize)," Castro said.
Castro also called on people who were threatening him and his family.
"Sa mga nagbabanta po sa akin, hindi ko na rin po maisip... nai-stress na rin po ako. Kung anu-ano na lang din po lumalabas na pagbabanta sa akin lalung-lalo na po sa pamilya ko. H'wag naman po sana nilang idamay [pamilya], kung may galit po sila sa akin, ako na lang po ang anuhin nila dahil masakit din po [sa akin] kase nadadamay 'yung pamilya ko (To those who threaten me, I can't even imagine... I'm stressed too. There are so many threats against me and my family. I hope they stop dragging my family into this. If they have a grudge against me, they should only blame and threaten me, I'm also hurt because my family is also affected)," he added.
Many netizens expressed anger after seeing the video, with some of them calling him a bully.
"This is not celebrating tradition anymore, this is becoming an excuse to be inconsiderate and rude for a day," a netizen says.
Zamora emphasized the importance of responsible behavior and the impact of actions on the community.
He said the Wattah Wattah Festival is a celebration known for its playful water dousing tradition, but he stressed that participants should also exercise caution and respect towards others.
Meanwhile, to prevent such incidents from happening again, Zamora said that they have come up with another way to celebrate the festival next year without affecting other people, which is to designate a "basaan zone" along Pinaglabanan Road.
Read more: https://mb.com.ph/2024/6/28/basaan-zone-eyed-following-basaan-2024-chaos-mayor-francis