Victim in viral video provoked other kid, Ateneo classmate claims

A Grade 9 student of Ateneo de Manila University, who refused to be named for security reasons, has claimed that his schoolmate who was caught on video being beaten by another student provoked the incident.

According to an exclusive report of GMA News' Arnold Clavio aired over “24 Oras” on Tuesday, the student who witnessed the incident in the bathroom saw the “bullied” kid bump into his would be attacker and even challenged his would be a attacker to a fist fight.

“I was there and I saw it with my own eyes, he randomly bumped into him, asked 'What's your problem? As a result, he was pushed with quite consideratble force. He said, gusto mo ba ng sapakan? He was really provoked,” the Grade 9 witness said.

The Grade 9 witness also claimed that he had his run-ins with the victim back in seventh grade.

“Many many things. Binabastos niya ako sir,” the witness added.

Ateneo de Manila has already dismissed the student in the video after a firestorm that also saw two other videos of the same kid bullying his fellow Ateneo students going viral, with one victim kneeling for mercy and another being asked to kneel and touch his shoes.

The Grade 9 witness maintains that what happened was not bullying and Ateneo got it wrong in kicking out the kid in the videos.

"Obviously may mga pagkakamali ka na nagawa. You did a fair share of mistakes. You were quite aggresive there in the bathroom jump... but he is not an evil...I hope that 'yung talagang nangyari will surface,” the Grade 9 witness said.

"I don't think Ateneo did it because that's the right thing to do. I think they did it because they fell under the pressure of public ye and they were too afraid of their reputation and being destroyed because they're keeping a bully, quote-unquote bully in campus,” the witness added.

The Grade 9 witness already submitted these claims in a formal letter to the Ateneo president Fr. Jose Ramon Villarin. 

GMA News has already reached out to Ateneo to get its side but they are yet to issue a response with regards to the new claims made by the Grade 9 student.

The family of the alleged bullying victim released a statement through their spokesperson, Atty. Rowena Disini, saying they are focused on the welfare of their child, who was hurt emotionally and physically during the incident.

"As he returns to school, they need to ensure that he recovers from it, finds healing, and hopefully, closure. No doubt, they are treating this matter very seriously and will bring it to the proper forum at the appropriate time," Disini said.

"For now, the case is currently being handled by the school, and they want to respect this process." —Llanesca T. Panti/JST, GMA News