For Mayor Vico, arguing with rude residents needs restraint and, yes, receipts

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Screenshots from ABS-CBN interview

Relationship gurus often advise people against arguing while at their peak anger levels. It makes us say hurtful things we don’t mean, or turn to violence instead of logic.

If you need a crash course on how to win an argument, just watch the following video where Pasig Mayor Vico Sotto confronts a constituent who is obviously out of line. In what is yet another proof that the Philippines’ average public servant can do better, Mayor Vico fights fire with water, if water restood for legally sound points and a tenacious tone.

The dude who’s being told off is a businessman from Barangay Bambang, Pasig City, who recently tore down a building with people still living inside.

According to him, he had been waiting to sit down with local government and discuss the demolition and relocation of the tenants. When it didn’t happen, he took matters into his own hands and did the dirty work himself. He kept insisting that the people inside were pushing drugs, and that local peace and safety officers threatened him. It was all downhill from there.

Here’s a blow-by-blow account of all the right counters Mayor Vico let rip, just in case a public official out there needs some notes on how to stand for their people.

Angry dad: “Puro sila nag-du-drugs!

Mayor Vico: “Anong karapatan mong umaksyon, PDEA ka ba?

Ah, yes, the convenient excuse to undermine human lives ever since 2016. Whether the dude’s wrong or right, people always have the right to due process.

Angry dad: “Hindi iligal ang ginawa namin!

Mayor Vico: “Basahin niyo ang Urban Development and Housing Act.

That’s right, Mayor Vico. You don’t go to a fight empty-handed. And that’s considering he’s up against the dad who’s an engineer and her daughter who’s a lawyer.

Angry dad: “Bakit ka biased against sa amin?”

Mayor Vico: “As a public official, I will treat things fairly.”

Again, no valid arguments from the angry dad here. Sorry, dad, but you don’t call justice “biased” against you just because the facts revealed didn’t work in your favor.

Angry dad: “Constituent din ako! Taxpayer ako!”

Mayor Vico: “Kahit hindi taxpayer, papakinggan ko.

This is probably the most game-changing counter in the entire video. This is because for so long, citizens have taken the “taxpayer” card as tool to feel more entitled to their rights.

News flash, folks: tax or no tax, any person who was born in the Philippines are at liberty to enjoy their rights as stated in the Philippine Constitution.

Plus, ever heard of E-VAT? Even the most dirt-poor pay taxes, so this argument shouldn’t ever work.

More than winning a heated argument, what this ultimately shows what a genuine pro-people public servant should be prepared to do to prove their principles. We barely saw the informal settlers in question, yet Mayor Vico was set to defend them to death with the law if he had to.

Oh, and speaking of law, please wear your mask properly, angry dad. It’s like you wanted to be told off.

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