‘Find the context of the story’

It is good to know that DPS will investigate the allegations that one of its officers was unnecessarily rough with a Tanapag storeowner. If there was police brutality it cannot be tolerated.

But the media’s coverage of the incident was disappointing and biased. This is much more than a story about police use of force.

The media reported that Isidro Kani was going to “a funeral” and parked in front of the store. They didn’t tell us that the funeral was that of Balandina Tenorio. That she was one of the last women of her generation. That she lived in Tanapag all of her life and was an auntie to most of the people in the village. Mr. Kani knew her, as they all did, as “Nan Dinang.”

Mr. Kani grew up in Tanapag during a time when everyone there was related. Before barracks and car repair shops. Before the homestead program scattered people from their villages across the island. Nan Dinang was known as a mother who raised children and grandchildren and welcomed all children into her home. Long into old age, she attended Mass and was active in the village. Wherever she went younger people eagerly went to her for her blessing.

It was important to Isidro Kani to attend the funeral and honor this woman who meant so much to him and the rest of his village. He was a bit late for the Mass. There is no parking lot at Santa Remedios Church in Tanapag and when a Mass or funeral is well-attended, it is very difficult to find parking.

Kwik Trip Store is fairly close to the church and afforded the only stop available. He parked there and would have been in the church an hour at the most. Storeowner Sara Kwik followed Mr. Kani into the funeral and demanded he move his car. He asked her for some patience, to give him some time. Maybe if she understood the situation she would have stopped yelling and waited for Nan Dinang’s funeral to end.

The policeman temporarily assigned to the governor got involved. The governor was at the funeral. He also grew up with Nan Dinang in Tanapag. It would be embarrassing to have a big scene right outside the funeral of this much-loved woman. It is unclear what happened next, and if the situation ended as Sara described it, things certainly were not handled well.

But the media missed an opportunity to cover an event in a way that could help us understand all sides of the story, and to understand the multi-cultural and changing community in which we live. Mr. Kani and Mrs. Kwik are both members of the present day Tanapag community. They are both former schoolteachers. They are both decent people with children. Maybe some day soon they will meet and understand all the things that were going on in that rainy day of Nan Dinang’s funeral. Perhaps they will be able to set an example to all of us and our children and apologize to each other.

Reporters, if you are going to cover this island, please remember that you too are part of this small, multicultural and interdependent community. Report stories in a way that provides some insight into complex situations. Please scratch beneath the surface. It will be worth your time and will do justice to your profession.

Vicky King Taitano
Capitol Hill