By ROGER M. BALANZA
A month after a tragic shoreline incident, Birgilio Castillo (not his real name) is spending Christmas without a penis and half his balls.
Castillo of General Santos City in Southern Philippines has been object of neighborhood pity—and naughty jokes—after landing in the headlines of local papers in November when he lost his treasured possessions to his own motorized canoe’s propeller.
Castillo, a fisherman, had just arrived at their village with a nephew after an overnight fishing trip, and was pushing the boat–with engine running— to shore in waist deep water when the propeller tangled with his shortpant.
The propeller swallowed part of the pant together with Castillo’s penis and half his balls.
Neighbors who witnessed the early morning decapitation brought the bloodied Castillo to the hospital where doctors were forced to cut off the badly-mangled tools.
Castillo’s father mourned the loss but was grateful the propellers left the boy one of his balls. Doctors told me my son could have died if it was a total demolition, he told local media without explaining why losing both penis and balls in one sweep could lead to instant death.
The unmarried Castillo has recovered but has holed up in their seaside house since the accident that continues to be widely talked in his fishing village.
The father has advised the young man to stay home as naughty jokes about his manliness is always at the center of lively discussions when neighbors gather.
