Public Figures for Public Consumption

It has been a chaotic drama for Philippine celebrities, Mr. & Mrs. Santiago versus Mon Tulfo over the weekend. They are public figures here in the Philippines from show business and from media, respectively. I was totally clueless until I found in Yahoo! Philippines trending in the top stories. It started out when Mrs. Santiago (Claudine) found out here baggage was missing in the airport of their destination, Manila, where her whole family came from a vacation in the white sand beaches in the island of Boracay. As per reports, Mrs. Santiago was scolding the ground attendants because of her luggage that was not loaded in the local plane carrier they were in. She even threatened those two ground personnel of that place carrier to be fired from their job. Mr. Tulfo was there, who came from Davao, and saw and heard the whole commotion. And as a media personality, he took pictures/video of what transpired at that moment. When Mr. Santiago (Raymart) saw Mr. Tulfo doing that, Raymart came to Tulfo already fuming with anger, asking why is he getting pictures/video of his wife. Then, as the two parties claimed who's who to give the first fist, started the rumble.

As I was looking on the photos and videos that was on print and television, I feel sorry for both parties because of their initial reactions that came to a chaos. First, I found Claudine very arrogant because of her missing luggage which she threatens the staff to be fired from their work. I don't found it a proper way to deal with that situation. There was a mistake from the plane carrier's staff but it should not be arranged with that kind of attitude she was showing and won't solve the problem either by being haughty. Second, for Raymart to indulge in a fist fight which cause so much trouble in both parties was a total mess. He would have been calm and talk to Mr. Tulfo in a proper manner since they are public figures. And people look to them as role models because they are public figures. Lastly, for Mon Tulfo. As a media practitioner, everything they see which will be a good material for a story they will document. But sometimes, they don't know how to respect some privacy that whey will make a story out of emotional or personal bias.

For the Santiago couple, where art thou values and decency? Mr. Tulfo, give some privacy and respect.