By Joseph Pedrajas
A man who identified himself a vlogger (video blogger) fell prey to members of an alleged "budol-budol" gang while filming in Manila over the week.
In Mayor Francisco "Isko Moreno" Domagoso's "Capital Report" on Friday, victim Manuelito Ormedo said suspects Ramon Lagasca and Johhmar Versoza tricked him into leaving his belongings with them before meeting someone who would supposedly help him with his vlog content.
"Nagba-blog po ako sa Bonifacio Shrine, vina-vlog ko po 'yung matandang namamalimos. Then lumapit si sir na nagpakilala, kung gusto ko raw kumuha ng coverage nila ng Oblation Run sa UP (University of the Philippines)," he said, "Syempre as a blogger, content din yun. Pumayag naman ako."
(I was blogging at Bonifacio Shrine, vlogging the old beggars. The suspect approached me and introduced himself. He asked if I wanted their coverage of the Oblation Run at UP. That's content, so as a blogger, I said yes.)
"Then, dinala ako mismo sa gitna ng Kartilya ng Katipunan...after po noon, dinala naman ako sa harap ng UDM ," he added. "Doon po nangyari... bawal daw po lahat, lahat ng dala na gamit ko, sinulat sa papel, bawal daw po dalhin." (They took me to the middle of the Kartilya ng Katipunan space, then they took me to UDM. That's where it happened... everything I had with me, I wasn't allowed to bring.)
Ormedo said he was then asked to go to the mall behind the Manila City Hall where the suspects' companion was supposedly waiting for him. However, upon arriving at the meeting place, he did not see anyone from the suspects' group.
"Pero pagdating doon, doon na ko kinabahan. Walang tao," he said. (When I arrived, I became anxious, because there was no one there.)
Ormedo immediately returned to the suspects, but they were gone. This prompted him to seek assistance from Manila Police District Special Mayor's Reaction Team (SMaRT), which later arrested the suspects in a follow-up operation.
Domagoso advised the public to be cautious in dealing with strangers.
"'Yan mga kaibigan. Lack of judgment. Iiwan ka ang tanong kilala ka ba nang i-memeet mo?" he said. "See, dapat doon pa lang mapapaisip ka na eh." (Those friends. Lack of judgment. They leave you... the question is, does the person you're meeting know you? See, he should have thought about that first.)