Written by Anonymous

How would you feel if you were accused of a crime you didn’t commit? And not just accused privately, but to a worldwide audience through a social media platform? Well, that is what happened to a certain man named Nestor Punzalan.

On July 26, 2016 (Tuesday), Top Gear Philippines (TGP) posted a road rage video (that has since been taken down) that went viral. The stars of the video were two men—one in a red Hyundai EON and one riding a bicycle. The two got down from their vehicles and started fighting. After a while, it had seemed as if the two had reconciled as the cyclist went on his way, but the driver got a gun from his car, ran to the cyclist and shot him point blank in the face. The cyclist, Mark Vincent Garalde, died immediately, and a stray bullet had hit a passerby by the name of Rosell Bondoc.

The problem occurred when social media users turned internet sleuths thought they could identify the murderer. Someone had sent Nestor Punzalan’s name to Top Gear Philippines, claiming that he was the murderer based on his conduction sticker number (MO-3746). The conduction sticker number of the real perpetrator was MO-3745.

Even though the police had yet to release their official findings, because someone had submitted Nestor Punzalan’s name to Top Gear Philippines, they decided to post it on their social media page with the following caption:

“So the Hyundai Eon with conduction sticker number MO3746 has been traced to this account (link to Nestor Punzalan’s Facebook page).” (the post has since been deleted)

Now, as is his right, the mistakenly accused innocent man is going to sue both Top Gear Philippines and all those who took part in this Cyberbullying Act.

On a separate note, Rosell Bondoc, the orphan who who was hit by a stray bullet, is at Mary Chiles Hospital, on her way to recovery.

If you were Top Gear Philippines’ crisis communication team, how would you handle his mishap?

Could a lawsuit have been avoided if the company took measures other than releasing an official apology?

Or was the lawsuit unavoidable?

With the lawsuit hanging over your head (as a member of the crisis comm team), how would you react?

Let us know your thoughts in the comments below! 🙂

Sources:

ABS-CBN News. (2016, July 28). Quiapo road rage: Second victim is orphan hit by stray bullet. Retrieved from http://news.abs-cbn.com/news/07/28/16/quiapo-road-rage-second-victim-is-orphan-hit-by-stray-bullet

GMA News Online. (2016, July 26). Owner of car similar to the one used in Quiapo road rage shooting surfaces at NBI. Retrived from http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/575189/news/metro/owner-of-car-similar-to-the-one-used-in-quiapo-road-rage-shooting-surfaces-at-nbi

GMA News Online. (2016, July 27). Manila police, NBI deny Nestor Punzalan was shooter in Quiapo road rage killing. Retrieved from http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/575259/news/metro/manila-police-nbi-deny-nestor-punzalan-was-shooter-in-quiapo-road-rage-killing

GMA News Online. (2016, July 27). Nestor Punzalan planning to sue Top Gear Philippines. Retrieved from http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/575351/news/metro/nestor-punzalan-planning-to-sue-top-gear-philippines

Panganiban, P. I. (2016, July 27). What really happened in the Quiapo road rage shooting. Retrieved from http://says.com/ph/news/what-really-happened-in-the-quiapo-road-rage-shooting

San Juan, A. (2016, July 27). Man wrongly accused for viral road rage incident plans to sue Top Gear Philippines. Retrieved from http://kickerdaily.com/posts/2016/07/man-wrongly-accused-for-viral-road-rage-incident-plan-to-sue-top-gear-philippines/