Mon Tulfo vs. Raymart Santiago and Claudine Barretto, And The Cellphone At the Heart of the Brawl

Not Tech-Related? Think Again.

Just a few hours ago, I posted a status update on TechPinas' Facebook Community Page asking for our TP Friends' opinion on the Mon Tulfo vs. Raymart Santiago and Claudine Barretto NAIA Terminal 3 Brawl that happened last weekend.

I posed a straight-forward question, "[...] Sinong mas pinaniniwalaan nyo?"

One TP Friend called me out on it and told me that the issue is not tech-related (saying, in effect, that I shouldn't be talking about it on TP and on our social media accounts). Absolutely certain that the hot topic is not far from the site's main theme, I replied,

"Rolan, [technology is definitely] involved [in this beating incident]. First there's the camera [and] the issue about privacy. Then, we have this leaked video which has become viral [on Youtube]. Technology is at the heart of this brawl when you think about it."

The Cellphone That Started It All

Now that investigators have confirmed that - unfortunately - no CCTV camera in that area of NAIA Terminal 3 was working during the time of the incident (Seriously? What's up with that?), we can only rely on eyewitness accounts and stories from those directly involved to get a picture what actually happened.

Watch veteran news personality, Mon Tulfo, and Kapuso actor, Raymart Santiago, share their own sides and versions of the story with Noli de Castro on last night's TV Patrol 25.


This video is a property of ABS-CBN News and Current Affairs. TP Disclaimer on Online Videos applies.

"Yung nangyari po nyan, yung bagahe po namin eh hindi nakarga po sa eroplano. At hindi po sinabi sa amin na hindi namin makakasama yung mga bagahe namin. Eh may mga importanteng mga gamit dun; Mga gamot ng anak ko [at ng] anak ng kaibigan ko. Eh that time po kasi may asthma yung bata kaya nagalit nga kami. Siguro sabihin na nating medyo nagtaas ang boses pero dahil siguro [yun sa] mother's instinct," Santiago told Kabayan.

But it was Mon Tulfo who disclosed exactly how the brawl started. "Nagsimula yung gulo nung matapos kong kunan ng 'cell' photos si Claudine na minumura yung counter girl sa Cebu Pacific. Naawa ako kasi dun sa counter girl, dun sa ground stewardess. At naawa ako dahil [Claudine] was dropping names. At saka sinasabi nyang ipapasisante nya at pinatatawag nya yung mga Gokongwei." According to Tulfo, Santiago tried to grab the cellphone from his hand (pinilit kunin) after he took the photos -- and that's when everything turned for the worse.

Clearly then, Mon Tulfo's cellphone is not only the one object that's at the heart of the brawl but it's also practically the most important piece of evidence in this case. This begs the question: "What exactly is Mon Tulfo's cellphone?" Obviously, it's a cameraphone. But what's the model?

Mon and his Maemo-Powered Companion

Well, we did our research by reviewing news clips and we found exactly what we're looking for.

TP Friends, I present to you Mr. Mon Tulfo's smartphone, the handset in question --

Released in the Philippines on March 9, 2010 with a Php 29,990 price tag, Nokia N900 was the company's flagship phone that year. With Linux-based Maemo operating system and a slew of amazing multimedia features including a powerful 5 MegaPixel autofocus camera with Carl Zeiss lens and a 480p Video Recorder, the Nokia N900 was and still is absolutely capable of delivering a complete mobile experience.

"Leon" (yes, I name my gadgets), my Nokia N900 (which now holds its spot in the TP Gadget Vault), served as my main phone in 2010. Back then, I wrote an article entitled 8 Things I Love About Nokia N900 and at #5 was the phone's camera. I loved its shooter so much, in fact, that I even dedicated a separate Nokia N900 Camera Sample Photos entry just for it. In that post, I wrote, "I think the photos look good; Contrast is just right and there's little departure from true color integrity. Definitely above average image quality from a cameraphone; Almost rivals that of full-fledged digicams."

OK, so what's the point? Confident about his smartphone's capabilities - perhaps, Mr. Tulfo took it out of his pocket and began shooting photos of the borderline-ballistic Claudine Barretto. Now, imagine if his cellphone didn't have a decent camera. Do you think all this drama would have even happened? See, technology is the heart of this issue.

Anyway. Read this 2010 Nokia N900 Review submitted to TP by an actual owner of the smartphone. Oh, and we wouldn't mind posting Mr. Tulfo's review too -- should he bother to email us one.