By RALPH JOHN MIJARES
ROXAS City — Police here appealed to the public to be vigilant against members of budol-budol gang.
Those with plenty of money are the primary targets of these swindlers, warned Supt. Julio Gustilo Jr., police city director.
He advised the public to watch out for their personal belongings, especially cash, and carefully choose whom to trust.
Gustilo’s warning came in light of reports indicating that swindlers are badgering this capital city, with at least two residents losing huge cash and expensive jewelry to cunning suspects recently.
Over a radio interview, Gustilo said those who make deposits or withdrawals in the bank should not entertain anyone who approaches them while making transactions.
If they are not comfortable transacting alone, he said, they could bring a family member or a trusted friend with them instead.
Some people believe there is something supernatural going on when swindlers are preying on their victims — something that Gustilo refuted.
He said the suspects do not use any power of hypnosis to convince their victims to give them money; it’s all good and tricky talk.
“Maayo sila mag-istorya kag maayo magpasakay,” stressed Gustilo.
In a recent incident, 62-year-old Rosita Arevalo of Brgy. Dinginan said she seemed to have gotten lost in thought while talking to a man and a woman, who swayed her into placing her wallet containing P3,600 cash inside a “bag full of cash.”
The man and the woman turned out to be swindlers.
The suspects left the bag where Arevalo thought she placed her wallet.
She later discovered, much to her surprise, that the bag contained nothing but paper cutouts.
A common tactic of swindlers, said the police, is that one of their cohorts would talk to the victim, and then another would butt in and ask the victim to give them or buy from them something.
Anyone who gets into this situation should immediately call the police, Gustilo said.
The police city director said he will meet with the recent budol-budol victims to try to determine the suspects’ identities.
Gustilo said the city police will also try to establish the relation among swindling incidents here.
He believes they are interconnected, having only one set of suspects.
A retired teacher here had also fallen victim to swindlers, who took away more than P200,000 worth of cash and jewelry./PN
