"Quack doctors" arrested

CEBU, Philippines - They only wanted to be healed, but they got duped instead.

Eden Misa, 20, was roaming at Colon St. in Cebu City with her mother-in-law, Milagros Magallanes, when they came across a man and a woman selling some items that can supposedly cure illnesses.

 Joel Sison Jr. 32, and Emily Sayson, 39, of South Poblacion, Naga Cebu told the two that aside from the oil they were selling, they are also capable of healing people of their diseases.

Sison and Sayson talked Misa and Magallanes, who were suffering from cough and body pains, into undergoing a “ritual” they will perform.

Right there at Colon St., an egg was placed against Misa’s stomach. The egg was then wrapped inside a handkerchief before they broke it. Misa said she saw two bits of wood but the two “healers” said there were “worms” found inside the egg, an indication that Misa was on her way to full recovery.

Sison and Sayson then asked for a payment of P7,000 for the “services” they just rendered.

Since Misa did not have that amount, they gave P1,500, the only cash they had.

But Misa was told that she would not get rid of her illness if she would not pay, so she handed to Sison and Sayson her wristwatch worth P10,000.

Misa and her mother-in-law then went home to Sitio Lumar, Barangay Lorega, San Miguel, Cebu City. They then called up a relative who is a policeman assigned in Mandaue City.

It was the policeman who made them realize they were victimized by swindlers.

They went back to Colon St. but Sison and Sayson were no longer there. They learned from the other vendors that the two were from Naga. Accompanied by the other vendors, they went to the Theft and Robbery Section (TRS) of the Cebu City Police Office.

It was the TRS operatives who helped them in successfully locating Sison and Sayson in Naga.

At the TRS office, the two suspects explained that there was no swindling involved, as everything that happened was clear to Misa. What happened was an arrangement agreed upon by both parties, they said.

Fortunately for Misa, she got her money and watch back. Luckily for Sison and Sayson, Misa did not want to go through the hassles of suing them. — (FREEMAN)