MANILA, Philippines — A short clip which circulated on social media showed Manila Mayor Joseph “Erap” Estrada hitting a man during a Chinese New Year parade in Binondo.

During the said parade last Tuesday, Estrada gave away “ang-paus,” or red envelopes, which he said contained 20-peso and 50-peso bills.

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In a statement issued by the Mayor last Friday, he explained that the man he had punched as seen in the video, grabbed his hand which he said almost prompted his fall from the parade truck.

“Habang ako’y namamahagi ng tradisyunal na angpao…isang lalaki at hinablot ang aking kamay. Bukod sa halos masubsob na ako mula sa trak na kinasasakyan ko, kamuntik na ring matumba ang matandang nabangga ng lumundag na pasaway na kanyang katabi,” the mayor said.

[While I was giving away the traditional angpao, a man clutched at my hand. He almost pulled me off the truck I was riding on and he bumped an old man standing near him and the old man almost fell.]

“Totoong umigkas ang aking kamao dahil sa insidente. Kung natumba ang matanda dahil sa pasaway na iyon, baka bumaba pa ako ng trak at nabigwasan ko pa siya,” he added.

[It’s true I let my fist fly because of the incident. If that rowdy man managed to make the older man all, I might have gone down and punched him again.]

Estrada apologized to the public over the incident and attributed it to his sudden burst of anger.

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“Isa itong insidente ng silakbo ng dugo dahil sa kagagawan ng taong walang pakialam sa kanyang kapwa,” Estrada said. “Walang may gusto ng pangyayari at alam kong pagkabigla lang ang insidente kaya ako naman ay humihingi ng paumanhin sa publiko.”

[This incident caused a sudden burst of anger because of someone who didn’t care about others. Nobody likes what happened and it was so sudden. That’s why I’m asking for forgiveness from the public.] /atm

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