"The two persons who took P3 million in jewelry and cash from me should be apprehended so they do not victimize others," lawyer Luz Dato-Lacson said yesterday.

"I don't mind if I don't get my jewelry and money back as long as those swindlers are jailed," Lacson said.

The lawyer also said that, yesterday, she got a call from a woman who told her that the description of one of the men who victimized her fit that of the man whose wife had also "swindled" a lot of people in their neighborhood.

Balikbayan robbery a hoax
BY DONALYN GUERRERO

DMG photo

"Balikbayan pretender" Marlyn Saniel ended up in jail yesterday*

Crime does not pay, Bacolod City police director Senior Supt. Pedro Merced said when the BCPO yesterday discovered that the reported robbery of a "balikbayan" at the Bacolod Reclamation area Wednesday morning was a hoax.

Merced said Marlyn Bahian Saniel, 33, of Mangahan Street, Purok Barreto, Olongapo City, who had earlier identified herself as "Myca Bahin Kintanar" will suffer the consequences of putting the Bacolod police in a bad light and falsely reporting the fake robbery.

Saniel, who claimed to be a bank teller of the Bank of America in San Diego, Califormia, USA, is now detained in the lock-up cell of Police Precinct 2 for charges of perjury, use of fictitious name, concealment of her true name, and incriminating an innocent person.

'Avoid sweet-talkers'
BY DONALYN GUERRERO

Bacolod City police director, Senior Supt. Pedro Merced, warned against "sweet talkers", especially strangers, yesterday following another incident of "budol-bodol" or swindling.

The latest incident involved a prominent Bacolod lawyer and civic leader who lost about P3 million in cash and jewelry to two unidentified persons at Burgos Street in the city Wednesday.

Sometimes it is hard to accept that most "budol-budol" victims who were lured by the swindler's bait had also aspired or were interested to get something bigger in return, Merced said.