The first time I ever witnessed police brutality was around 14 years ago. My family had a habit of watching TV Patrol before eating dinner, and as a kid, I would mindlessly do my homework while the show was on. I didn’t pay much attention to everything, but one specific night, the newscaster disclaimed some very disturbing content. I raised my palms to my face to cover my eyes from the scene, as advised by my parents, but to our surprise, the audio from the news report was far more distressing; it narrated about a man lying naked on the floor with his genitals tied to a rope. The rope was being pulled by a police officer like you would with a string toy. The man screeched and cried in pain as the officer audibly made noises. This was later sensationalized as a “torture” video, shocking millions of Filipinos, and traumatizing me as a little kid.
