The Russel Ingco I know

Rarely do I write letters to a newspaper editor, but I could not help but scribble some lines about a former student of mine who had unfortunately been the subject of news stories the past few days. The way he is depicted in the media as a businessman behaving like a spoiled brat who drives around in a Maserati car and abusing a traffic enforcer is so unlike the person I know.

Although I have not seen him for a while, I practically saw Joseph Russel A. Ingco “grow up” during the years he was a student at the San Beda College of Arts and Sciences. I remember him well as a gentle soul, a kind-hearted, soft-spoken and peaceful young man. His family was well-off yet he was always humble. Russel, as we called him, never had any serious school disciplinary issues to cast doubt on his character.

I refuse to pass judgment on anyone involved in this unfortunate case, but I wish people would get the chance to know the Joseph Russel Ingco I know, someone who is basically a good man. I am confident that, in the end, the purity of his heart will prevail.

—JOFFRE ALAJAR, associate vice dean, Accountancy and Business, San Beda College