Filipina Blogger Captures Tear Gas Stampede

The Philippines just finished its natiowide elections, and Laarni Cayetano was proclaimed Mayor of Taguig City on Wednesday. Unfortunately, the proclamation was marred by a tear gas canister going off and causing a stampede.

Filipina blogger Alodia Gosiengfiao happened to be on the scene. In an act of citizen journalism, she caught the stampede on video.

Accusations have been flying back and forth on this incident. Laarni’s husband, Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, accuses Laarni’s rival candidate Dante Tiñga of orchestrating a tear gas attack. Outgoing Taguig Mayor Sigfrido Tiñga, Dante’s son, accuses the Senator of issuing malicious statements. The Taguig police claims it was all an accident.

Of course, all this political back-and-forth completely fails to portray the visceral terror of that day. That’s exactly what Alodia’s video manages to convey.

I don’t care where you stand on Taguig City politics. I don’t care whether you’re with the Cayetanos or the Tiñgas or the Beatles or the Klingons. Whether through deliberate malice or accidental incompetence, there is absolutely no excuse for gassing innocent civilians.

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