By Al S. Mendoza

 

THE latest news on John Amores, the obviously mentally troubled kid, is a bit troubling.

Amores was expelled this week by Jose Rizal University (JRU), his alma mater.

That was off-key.  That was flawed. That was downright harsh.

Amores did wrong, no doubt.

By running amuck, by losing his mind and flying in a rage, in the process hitting his fellow basketball players in a punching binge, that was sheer madness.

His action has no place in a civilized world.

What happened again that day when Amores turned from my cherie amor to amok?

Without provocation, he intentionally bumped a referee, berated an official of his school seated at ringside, then charged the camp on the other end of the floor and punched in an almost lightning-quick succession four fellow players.

This was when the game between JRU and College of St. Benilde (CSB) was nearing completion, with CSB already enjoying an unreachable lead of 71-51 with 3:31 minutes left to play.

Amores’ rampage was beyond reason.  It can only be the act of someone possessed by the devil.

Three of his victims suffered serious facial and head injuries.

One had a severe black eye.  Another suffering from dizzying spells after banging his head on the floor.   Both have filed criminal charges.

The NCAA basketball tournament’s committee immediately banned Amores indefinitely.

Basketball officials actually acted a bit late as they could have imposed earlier punishment on Amores.

Before the JRU-CSB incident, Amores also figured in a similar fracas, hitting players of the University of the Philippines (UP) and Letran, with UP’s Mark Belmonte absorbing cracked gums.

Had officials not let Amores off the hook in the UP-JRU scrimmage, in effect treating him with kid gloves, things might have turned out differently.

Initially, almost everybody invoked counselling for Amores, with JRU taking the lead.

Bright idea.

But then, this, JRU making a virtual U-Turn when it suddenly decided to kick out Amores.

What happened to the counselling/healing process to rehab Amores?

By banishing Amores, JRU had practically thrown away the kid’s chances at redemption.

As I said, Amores is troubled meat.  Thus, he needs to be fixed.  He needs to be righted.  He needs us, adults, to lean on.

Amores has done wrong, yes.

But next to his parents, JRU officialdom must take an active hand in the healing process.

For, aren’t schools supposed to help redirect to the right path their misguided students?

While our house is the first refuge for our kids, the school is the next best bet to nurture and nourish the so-called hopes of the fatherland.

Let the Amores case be a ringing reminder to that.

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