Filipinos Among Those in Attempted Coup in the US Capitol

Volume 2, Issue No. 49

OPINION/COMMENTARY

/ News That Fears None, Views That Favor Nobody /

. . . . . A community service of The Filipino Web Channel (TheFilipinoWebChannel@gmail. com) and the Philippine Village Voice (PhilVoiceNews@gmail.com) for the information and understanding of Filipinos and the diverse communities in North America . . .

 Our latest as of Monday, January 11, 2021 

~ For a moment, our attention was riveted to the guy whose presence in the riotous attack on the US Capitol on Wednesday stood out because of his Captain America costume. Because he carried a "walis tambo" or soft broom, many people believed he was a Filipino. A Filipino lawyer has identified him on a Facebook post. But the person who answers to the name said it was "fake news" and so, he was suing him and a colleague for cyber libel. Who really is Captain "Walis Tambo"? 

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WHO IS CAPTAIN 'WALIS TAMBO'

A Filipino Rebel in Pro-Trump Riot at US Capitol?

By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ

Editor, The Filipino Web Channel

“The best way of successfully acting a part is to be it.” ― Arthur Conan Doyle

TORONTO - From the pandemonium that broke out in Wednesday's (January 6, 2021) right-wing coup attempt in the US Capitol which claimed five fatalities, including a policeman and a woman air force veteran from California, came out some sort of welcome respite, a comic relief if one could describe it as such.

One thing sure, it's no fun to be in the middle of a violent confrontation between government forces and pro-Donald Trump protesters, but in the midst of it all, was this guy, helmeted, fully masked, wearing a cape of the US flag, and carrying a shield mounted on a "walis tambo" or soft broom. 

It's the "walis tambo" that has caught my attention and I don't mean to diminish the historic significance of the moment when rioters overwhelmed the police, penetrated the Capitol, and ransacked the people's House.

The guy stood out in the crowd of protesters in the Capitol's Statuary Hall for the unmistakable look of the comic character Captain America. Though the broom could be a dead giveaway of his culture or nationality, the article by Anthony Esguerra in Vice News did not identify the person behind the cloak.

There's the hint in the story that the guy was Filipino because of the "walis tambo" (broom made from grass) he proudly displayed. (Full story at: https://www.vice.com/en/article/jgqv3b/alarm-confusion-and-embarrassment-over-southeast-asian-symbols-at-pro-trump-riot).

That kind of broom is a typical cleaning utility in most Filipino households as its allied cleaner, the "walis tingting" fashioned from spines of palm fronds. (Incidentally, the walis-tingting is a popular Philippine metaphor to illustrate Aesop's quote: "in union there is strength.") 

The feedback from readers also assumed he was Filipino. "While others laughed, the broom man was generally slammed on social media in the Philippines, as people expressed disgust at the support for Trump and the mob.

"You are a shame to us, you drop that prideful instrument of (Philippine) identity down," the writer quoted a Twitter user.

A short article in a Philippine newspaper, Daily Tribune, said, quoting San Francisco-based Filipino lawyer Rodel Rodis, "We now know the name of the FilAm insurrectionist. (Thanks to Gemma Nemenzo). He's Dong Abay".

There's not much to say about Dong Abay, the alleged broom man. But the writer of the piece, Pocholo Concepcion, says:

"An absurd-looking pro-Donald Trump protester dressed in a poor copy of Captain America’s costume and holding a walis-tambo, who was part of the mob that descended on Capitol Hill in Washington on 6 January, was maliciously identified as Filipino singer-songwriter Dong Abay".

The writer's description that Abay was "maliciously identified" apparently stems from his personal knowledge of the person. 

"Abay," he wrote, "has been residing in the Philippines all his life. I should know. I was co-manager of his former band, Yano". (Full story at: https://tribune.net.ph/index.php/2021/01/08/fake-news-lawyer-names-capitol-hill-protester-as-dong-abay/).

Another paper, the Philippine Daily Inquirer, backs up Concepcion's claim, saying in its January 9, 2021 issue that Abay is a "poet and rock icon".

How Rodis and Nemenzo had concluded that the broom man - the "FilAm insurrectionist" - was Abay was not immediately clear.

Short of explicitly denying he was the "FilAm insurrectionist", Abay posted on Facebook that he will file a cyber libel case against Rodis and Nemenzo.

“This is to inform the public that I’m pursuing a cyber libel case to be administered by a U.S. lawyer against Gemma Nemenzo and Rodel Rodis for spreading fake news,” Abay said.

According to the Inquirer, Abay's friends had vouched that he was in the Philippines and "was shown to be in a gig for a local radio station".

So far, nobody has come forward to claim ownership of the broom man. Meanwhile, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other law-enforcement agencies have farmed out to trace and arrest participants in the attack on the Capitol.

News accounts of the siege have described it as an "attempted coup," an "insurrection," and "domestic terrorism" incited by President Donald Trump in his desperate bid to hang on to the presidency. The US House of Representatives is poised to impeach Trump a second time as of this writing on Monday, January 11, 2021. (Copyright 2021. All Rights Reserved).