Ganito na ba talaga sila katakot sa atin (Are they this afraid of us)?
This question was posed by the spokesman of Vice President Leni Robredo after they have fallen prey to several online deliveries from fake bookings on Monday, Nov. 22.
Robredo’s spokesman Barry Gutierrez, in a Twitter post, revealed someone made several fake delivery bookings in Robredo’s name and had them delivered to her office in Quezon City.
He said various items from Metromart were delivered at the Office of the Vice President (OVP) in New Manila and were priced at P100,000 via cash-on-delivery (COD).
“May nagpanggap na si VP Leni at nag multiple orders ng abot P100K+ sa Metromart. Pinadeliver sa OVP na COD (Someone pretended to be VP Leni and made multiple orders worth P100K+ from Metromart. These were delivered to OVP through COD),” his post read.
The OVP received a “mix of orders” ranging from grocery items, alcoholic beverages, to toys within a day, Gutierrez said.
The Robredo camp was not amused by the bogus customer who made the fake purchases using the Vice President’s name.
“Hindi na inisip ang mga delivery rider na hinassle at inaksaya ang oras. Ganito na ba talaga sila katakot sa atin? Dedma sa ganitong kacheapan. Laban lang! #LabanLeni2022 (They didn’t even think of the delivery riders that they hassled and wasted time. Are they this afraid of us? Ignore this cheap stunt. Fight!),” Gutierrez said, without dropping names.
The hashtag #LabanLeni2022 means “fight, Leni,” which became significant months before Robredo announced her candidacy as her supporters waited for her to decide to join the presidential race.
Her spokesman also posted a photo of the transaction in Metromart’s app.
The order was addressed to Robredo herself with the delivery address set on the OVP’s address in New Manila, Quezon City.
In the transaction posted, the total amount of the items ordered were P16,040 to be paid cash on delivery.
In a subsequent message sent to this reporter, Gutierrez said that OVP managed to "arrange with Metromart for the orders to be canceled and the items returned".
"We specifically insisted that nothing be charged to the delivery riders. We are super thankful to them for their assistance and cooperation. VP Leni gave the riders something to compensate them for the two hours they lost because of this scam," he said.
"We were able to get the number used to book the deliveries, and are investigating further. There has been some initial consultation with our lawyers, but specific options will be discussed once we get more information on who may be responsible," he added.