Commuter assaulted for allegedly molesting female jeepney passenger

A man's face was swollen after he was beaten by bystanders as he supposedly molested a fellow commuter on a modern jeepney along Barangay Bambang in Taguig City.

According to a report on GMA's "24 Oras Weekend" on Sunday, the 53-year old man, identified as Alexander Butal, can be seen on security camera footage boarding the jeepney.

The seemingly off-balance Butal hung to the grab rail as he came close to a female passenger while trying to get seated.

The female passenger then changed seats as she claimed that Butal had touched her inappropriately, prompting her to report the incident to the driver.

On her way out of the jeepney, the female passenger then slapped Butal, to which Butal responded by kicking her. The video showed that she also asked for assistance from two other men who beat Butal while inside the vehicle.

Butal said he was only trying to balance himself on the grab rails and denied molesting the female passenger.

"Na-outbalance na ako. Napahawak ako sa hawakan na bakal. Mahina katawan ko eh. 'Yung kaliwang kamay ko, tsaka 'yung kanang kamay ko po, mahina na," he said in the report.

"Gusto ko managot sila sa ginawa niya eh. Masakit talaga. Wala naman akong ginagawang masa tapos pinagbintangan akong binastos niya," he added.

The CCTV footage has since been uploaded online, which received various reactions from netizens.

For her part, the female passenger maintained that Butal molested her, and that she was badly traumatized by the incident.

"Pagkasubsob niya ng pangalawang beses, parang nagulat na ako, kasi pangalawang beses na eh, tapos umusod ako. Tapos pag-usod niya, nung paupo na siya, nahaplos niya ako sa ganito (tagiliran) kaya napatayo ako. Napatayo ako tapos lumipat po ako ng upuan," she said.

"Sabi ko sa kanya 'Bakit mo ako binabastos?' Ginanon ko siya, sabi niya sa akin, 'Binabastos? Hindi kita binabastos.' Sabi ko 'Anong ginawa mo sakin? Bakit, anong tawag mo don? Parang hahalikan mo ako.' Tapos sabi niya 'Hindi kita binabastos. Driver din ako,' ganon ganon, tapos sinasabi niya pa tanga tanga daw ako," she added.

The matter was brought to the local barangay council, where both parties agreed not to file cases against each other.

"Bago mag-aregluhan, tinanong pa siya, pinapili siya ng choice kung magsasampa din ba siya ng kaso o makikipag-areglo siya. Ang gusto niya areglo na lang, wala nang kasuhan," said the female passenger.

Moving forward, the female passenger said she would be filing cyber-bullying cases due to the response of netizens on the CCTV footage which was uploaded online.

"Hindi nila alam 'yung epekto noon sa akin. Hindi nila alam kung paano 'yung nararanasan ko. Simula umaga hindi pa ako nakakakain kakaisip dun sa ginawa nila kasi 'yung tatay niya nakipag-areglo na kasi ayaw rin niya makulong," she said. — Jon Viktor Cabuenas/DVM, GMA News