CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Philippine Taekwondo Association (PTA) has assured everyone that they are taking the viral video of an incident on social media seriously, involving a female yellow-belt athlete who was allegedly beaten by a more experienced male black-belt athlete in a school in Bulacan.
In a statement released on Wednesday, March 27, the PTA, the official governing body of taekwondo in the Philippines, addressed the incident that took place earlier this month at the Jesus is Lord Colleges Foundation, Inc. in Bocaue, Bulacan.
The PTA upholds the safety and well-being of its students and coaches as one of its primary priorities, as stated in its release. They assured everyone that they were treating the matter seriously.
“In our Philippine Taekwondo community, the safety and well-being of our students and coaches are always our highest priorities. The Philippine Taekwondo Association (PTA) has been notified about this incident, and we have initiated our primary investigation, working closely with our PTA officers and PTA Regional Directors,” said the PTA’s statement.
“Rest assured that we are taking matters seriously. We are working within our jurisdiction in determining the facts of the events to ensure accountability within our community. The PTA is well aware of the public’s concern, and we hear you. May we encourage everyone to be prudent in their comments as there are minors involved in this incident. We deeply appreciate the support and understanding of our PTA community during this time.”
The incident involved a 17-year-old female yellow-belt taekwondo athlete whose coach allegedly instructed her to spar with a bigger and more experienced male black-belt athlete, which clearly resulted in a mismatch.
In the viral video, the victim was knocked down several times and didn’t have a chance to fight back against the black-belt athlete during their sparring session.
She was hit in the face and knocked out completely, resulting in serious injuries to her face.
The victim was hospitalized for several days and had to undergo numerous medical examinations. Besides her physical injuries, the athlete also admitted that she was traumatized by the incident in an interview posted on Facebook.
In earlier reports, the victim’s family had already filed a case against those involved in the incident.
The school, the Jesus is Lord Colleges Foundation, Inc., has temporarily halted its taekwondo practices to facilitate an internal investigation.
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