ugly sick pig : the incident

28 Aug 2008


Dear Atty Chenelyn Kylie :

Following is a report on an incident, which happened 27 Aug 2008 at around 7:30 pm at the MRT Shuttle, involving the undersigned and Mr. Ugly Sick Pig of [state office name here].

It is already a given that evening shuttle rides from the office to the MRT is always full-packed. Having arrived rather late and seeing the shuttle already brimming with passengers, I elected to find a spot along the aisle close to some friends with whom I can chat with, to while away several minutes of traffic jam. Somewhere along the Macapagal-EDSA junction I noticed the person (Ugly Sick Pig) seated in front of my friends and adjacent to where I was standing, kept glaring at me every time the bus made sudden stops. This gesture made me think if I have been making him uncomfortable for some time since the shuttle ride started. For whatever discomfort I might have caused him, I said sorry. Now, we all know how “shaky” it gets inside a bus, especially if one is standing; one gets a hard time balancing himself in a moving vehicle. I shifted my stance to avoid brushing past the person again in case the bus made jerking movements, but I wasn’t able to do so and bumped on him again, to which I said sorry for the second time.

He stood, nearing the end of the bus ride, facing me with eyes burning red-hot with anger saying, in his words “Bakit ba tuwing hihinto ang bus kinikiskis mo ang burat mo sa likod ko”. Now I was dumbfounded. I am never a person who bases his dealings on unfounded prejudices. Seeing Mr. Ugly Sick Pig though on first hand (this was our first, uneventful meeting), it never occurred to me that I am facing a [state office here] employee. It was a Wednesday evening and employees are supposed to be wearing their standard issue brown polo barong and black slacks—he was wearing a knee-length pants (purontong), an undershirt, and sandals. Is he by any chance a [state office here] special agent, traveling incognito or perhaps a visitor? ; if the later case were true, I am more entitled to a seat than he ever would be. But its not an issue of seating arrangement. At this point, his foul language was already calling the attention of the passengers. It is not in my character to rise to a provocation. I kept my cool and sincerely apologized ; I never raised my voice all the while trying to pacify him. Mr. Ugly Sick Pig seem to take it the other way though as he later on told me (and the whole bus) in his barrage of humiliating and threatening statements “Gusto mo bang mabasag ang pagmumukha mo? Saang office ka? ” at this juncture an employee alighted from the bus and at that point he (Ugly Sick Pig) further said to me, “Ayan, umupo ka na at baka di pa ako makapagpigil. Bading ka ba, bading ka ano?” With the advise of friends, I let him go out from the bus first before going out to head home.

I was clearly shaken to the bone with all that transpired. I lost sleep last night thinking, what action should I take ; it was clearly an incident I can’t just ignore to pass. Its an assault to my honor and dignity as a person--I haven’t worked this hard, both academically and professionally just to be insulted for something as trifle as standing on a shuttle bus.

Thank you and I pray that the [state office here] management would look into this matter and appropriate action be taken, to avoid recurrence of similar incidents to other employees.


Respectfully yours,





Pie oh Pah.
Administative Officer, the Dreaming Attic