Four-year-old girl takes victim’s bag: Student loses P20T tuition to Salisi Gang

CEBU, Philippines - A first year college student lost P20,000 cash intended for her tuition fee to alleged Salisi Gang members including a little girl who was the one who took the victim’s bag, Tuesday inside a fastfood chain at Colon Street, Cebu City.

Trisha Gubaton, 17,  together with her companion Andy Echin, 19, sought the assistance of authorities after finding out that her bag, which she put on the floor beside her, was already gone.

According to Echin, they went to a fastfood restaurant in Colon Tuesday morning to eat before enrolling at a university nearby for the second semester.

Inside, they already noticed the girl, who was about four to five years old, accompanied by a man and a woman who they assumed to be her parents. The woman allegedly ordered at the counter while the man, together with the girl, went to the table next to them.

Echin said while they were eating, they saw another woman beside them who allegedly looked suspicious and kept on looking at them.

 “Didto mi na-distract sa iyaha kay nagtoo mi nga kato siya ang naa’y buhaton sa amo ba. Mura’g lookout pud siguro to siya,” said Echin.

He said they did not know that while they were busy watching out for the woman, the girl was already trying to get Gubaton’s bag.

Inside the bag were Gubaton’s iPhone 6S, wristwatch, identification cards and the P20,000 for her enrollment.

They immediately reported the incident to the management and were able to see in the closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera footage that it was the girl who took Gubaton’s bag.

 “Na-loose guard g’yud mi kay bata man gud, mga 4 or 5 pa. To think ba nga ingon ato ka bata, di g’yud ka magtoo nga mag-ingon ana,” said Echin.

They reported the incident to Carbon Police Station but were not contented and proceeded to the Theft and Robbery Section.

Senior Inspector Rolito Supatan, chief of TRS, said they will go to the establishment to clearly see the footage.

He said they will check if they already have records of those who victimized Gubaton.

Meanwhile, Inspector Arieza Otida, chief of the Women and Children’s Protection Desk, finds the incident “very alarming” considering that such young children are being used to commit a crime.

“Alarming g’yud ni siya kay basin syndicated unya karon lang g’yud nabantayan,” she said, adding there are still other children who are possibly being used in this kind of modus operandi.

 “Main objective is to rescue these children nga gigamit ani kay wa ‘ta kahibawo nga daghan diay,” she said.  (FREEMAN)