Ai Ai to sue convenience store for child abuse

It is probably a good thing that comedy queen Ai Ai delas Alas isn't the lightning-powered, thunderbolt-wielding Filipino superheroine Volta in real life: otherwise a convenience store in Manila would have been reduced to a smoking wreck by now.

Then again, delas Alas, who plays Volta in the movies and on TV, doesn't need superpowers to protect her son.
Delas Alas was angered after her 16-year-old son told her that he was manhandled, verbally abused and detained by a staffmember of a convenience store after he was accused of shoplifting two tubes of candy.

"Hindi ko alam yung magagawa ko. Gusto kong magwala, gusto kong pumunta doon, gusto ko silang murahin lahat, gusto kong pasabugin yung tindahan nila," the comic actress told ABS-CBN's "The Buzz" on Sunday, as she described the state she was in when she learned about what happened to her son.

(I didn't know what to do. I wanted to go crazy, I wanted to go there, I wanted to curse them to their faces. I wanted to blow up their store.)

She said that instead of giving in to such destructive urges, she decided to take legal action against the store's owner and staff.
"Natuto na ako. Noong araw ganito ako magalit. Nagwawala ako. Ang nangyayari yung mga kaaway ko, ako rin ang dinedemanda," she said, prompting some unintentional laughter from the studio audience. (I learned my lesson. In the old days I would get angry like that. I go ballistic. What would happen is my enemies end up suing me.)

"The Buzz" also reported that delas Alas's lawyer would be filing charges of child abuse against the storeowner and the staff involved.

Delas Alas said one of the store's male staffers allegedly took the boy inside the stockroom and accused him of theft. The man then took off his shirt and started punching the boxes of supplies, apparently to scare the boy into a confession.
The supposed attacker allegedly hit delas Alas' son twice, and only calmed down when the boy said that he wasn't a thief, showed that he had money to pay for the candy, and identified himself as the son of the actress.

"The Buzz" was able to get the side of a store official, identified as personnel manager Eric Diez, who denied that the comedian's son was abused in any way.

Diez explained that it was unlikely that the staffer involved, identified only as "Melvin", would attack the comedian's son.

"Actually mali rin yung nasa diyaryo na ikinulong at binugbog, hindi naman siguro sasaktan. Ang laking tao ni Melvin para saktan yung bata," said Diez in a taped interview with "The Buzz".

(Actually, the newspaper reports are wrong about the detention and physical abuse. I don't think the boy was hurt. Melvin is such a big guy, he wouldn't dare hurt the child.)
Diez also denied that the storeowner and staff are hiding Melvin. Diez explained that Melvin had filed his resignation letter on December 1, so by December 16 he was no longer with the store.

The incident involving Melvin and delas Alas' son happened on December 11.

The store's owner, a certain Sammy Lopez, was interviewed by "The Buzz" but he requested that the interview no longer be aired.
Instead, he gave a message to the comedy actress, advising her to find out the truth about the incident and maybe, in the end, she would be the one to apologize to him.

Such an unsympathetic remark did not sit well with the actress, who countered: "Hindi niyo alam kung anong pakiramdam ng isang ina na ginanon ang anak. Alam ko po ang totoo. Kilala ko ang anak ko. At sana'y ikaw kung sino ka man na may-ari, ikaw sana alamin mo yung totoo. Yung tamang totoo. At baka ikaw ang mag-sorry sa akin."

(You have no idea how a mother feels when her son is abused. I know the truth. I know my son. And I hope that you, whoever you are, you find the truth out. The real truth. And maybe you'll apologize to me.)

Delas Alas insisted that her son is incapable of lying about the matter and that her son did not steal anything.

"Kilala ko mga anak ko. Labing-anim na taon kong inalagaan yung anak ko. Pinalaki ko sila sa pagmamahal. Pinalaki ko silang may takot sa Diyos. Pinalaki ko silang hindi sinungaling. At higit sa lahat pinalaki ko silang hindi magnanakaw," she said tearfully, her face twisted in anger and hurt.
(I know my children. Sixteen years I raised my son. I raised them in love. I raised them with the fear of God. I raised them not to be liars. And most of all I raised them not to be thieves.)

The comedian said that what she cannot accept is they way her son was treated by the store staff.

"Menor de edad ang anak ko. Bata pa yon na walang kalaban-laban. Ano'ng karapatan ninyong saktan ang anak ko? Yan ba ang SOP sa tindahan niyo? Na kung meron man ilalagay niyo sa stock room? Ano'ng gagawin niyo sa stock room? Tatakutin kagaya ng ginawa niyo sa anak ko? Gugulpihin kung gusto niyo? Dahil wala namang nakakakita sa kanila doon di ba?," she told the camera.

(My son is a minor. He's young and defenseless. What right do you have to hurt my son? Is that standard procedure in your store? That if there is a suspect you take him to the stock room? What would you do there? Terrorize him like what you did to my son? Beat him up if you want? Because there would be no witnesses, right?)

The comedian even had a message for his son's alleged assailant: "Sana wala kang anak para hindi mo maramdaman kung anong nararamdaman ko. Hindi biro pag sinaktan ang anak. Hindi niyo alam ang pakiramdam."
(I hope you don't have children so you wouldn't feel what I feel. It's no joke when your child is attacked. You have no idea how bad it feels.)

Delas Alas also quoted his son as telling the store staff: "Hindi ko po sisirain ang pangalan ng nanay ko dahil lang po sa kendi." (I would never ruin my mother's good name just because of some candy.)
Source:abscbnNews.com