Mall employee jailed for drinking juice

MANILA, Philippines - For drinking juice worth P17.50 inside the mall he was working in Mandaluyong City, a maintenance employee landed in jail Saturday night.

Raymart de los Reyes, 20, of Midway Park Subdivision in Caloocan City, asked for forgiveness but the management of the mall ignored his pleadings to teach him a lesson.

“I was just very thirsty so I decided to drink the juice. I’m asking forgiveness for what I’ve done,” De los Reyes said.

Ramon Palarca, 37, mall representative, told police that Delos Reyes took a 500-ml. bottle of iced tea from the display rack at the grocery shop.

 Emil Mendoza, civilian security guard, said the incident happened at 11:30 p.m. He said instead of going to the cashier to pay for the item, Delos Reyes went to the electrical room and drank it.

 Mendoza said he understood Delos Reyes’ plight, but it was his duty to report the incident to his superiors. He said the management is strictly implementing a rule prohibiting employees from taking any item from the store.