Here’s a Video of the Mon Tulfo and Raymart Santiago Fist Fight

Posted on May 7th, 2012. Written by Rico.

By now the infamous fist fight between Mon Tulfo and Raymart Santiago at NAIA Terminal 3 has made the social media rounds and hit mainstream news. Here’s a video of the mano-a-mano that left Tulfo’s face a bruised mess.

The video, embedded below, was captured by a smartphone camera moments into the altercation. He said-he said situations are nowadays less likely, since most phones can double as pocket camcorders.

What Happened in the Video

Update: Corrected description. We mistakenly thought Raymart was the dude in the pink shirt.

The minute-long video starts with s guy in a hot pink shirt (who we’ll call Pinky from now one) surrounded by airport guards. Suddenly he charges off-frame towards Tulfo, who was fighting off Raymart Santiago (who is wearing a gray shirt).

Tulfo turns his attention to pinky as the latter tries to execute an MMA takedown, getting a couple of punches in for good measure. Pinky’s shoot fails as Tulfo sprawls, a common defense against Raymart’s brand of aggression. The older man ends up on top.

But Tulfo’s fortune takes a turn for the worse, as Raymart manages to get behind and wrap his arms around Tulfo’s neck, pulling him off with a choke grip. Pinky regains his base. Joined by Claudine Barretto, they both start punching the face of their restrained opponent. Barretto looks towards the side for a moment and screams “okey lang ako!!!” as her arms flail away.

It’s not yet over for Tulfo, as Raymart won’t release his choke grip. Barretto still continues punching away as other women try to pry her away. Eventually at around the 0:28 mark we see Santiago and Barretto tugging on both sides of Tulfo’s chaleco (vest), as if they resorted to a conjugal tug-of-war for the right to punish their common opponent.

Eventually by 0:32 the guards get both off of Tulfo, who is left sitting on the floor gathering himself as you hear someone scream “‘Di pa ‘ko tapos!” A few seconds later, Mon almost falls victim to a kick to a head, thrown by someone who was outside the shot (but most likely Santiago).

At 0:42 Tulfo is back on his feet, and is guided by someone in a green polo barong away. He walks past Barretto, who has apparently calmed down but still hugged around the hips by a companion.

As Tulfo picks up his white hand carry from the floor, Santiago approaches Tulfo. His muscular build is suddenly prominent, and as a parting shot says something presumably nasty at his departing enemy.

News on the Fist Fight

Reports indicate that the altercation, which occurred yesterday afternoon (May 6, 2012), started when Raymart Santiago took exception to Mon Tulfo’s attempt to video his wife as she was getting angry at a Cebu Pacific stewardess. The celebrity couple had just arrived from Boracay. ABS-CBN‘s initial article shares Tulfo’s side of the story:

“Noong nakita ko na minumura na niya ang pobreng babae na mangiyak-ngiyak, ipatatanggal daw niya sa trabaho, kinunan ko ng litrato ng cellphone. Gusto ko sanang sabihin na ‘Cool ka lang, iyan namang babae, wala namang kasalanang personal sa iyo bakit mo naman minumura,’” he said.

Tulfo, however, said he was caught off guard after Santiago approached him and was forcefully trying to grab his cellphone.

“Noong nilagay ko ang cellphone ko sa vest ko… nakita nung si Raymart Santiago. Pilit niyang kinukuha ang cellphone ko. Sabi niya, ‘Bakit ka kumukuha?’ Magpapakilala sana ako kaya lang nung pilit na niyang kinukuha ang cellphone ko, tinulak ko siya sabi ko wala kang karapatan na kunin ang cellphone ko. Doon nag-umpisa ang kaguluhan,” he said.

Tulfo said several people approached him and a punch landed on his face that’s why he decided to fight back.