MANILA – The Philippine National Police – Civil Security Group (PNP-CSG) on Monday said the mall security guard who accosted a sampaguita vendor in a viral video met with the Supervisory Office on Security and Investigation Agency (SOSIA) on Monday.
In a message to reporters, CSG spokesperson Lt. Col. Eudisan Gultiano said the guard, whose identity was withheld, and officials from his agency were summoned last week.
The guard arrived at the SOSIA office in Camp Crame, Quezon City around 9 a.m., accompanied by the operations manager of his agency and a legal counsel.
According to the PNP, the meeting was convened to address the video circulating on social media involving the security guard and a female student selling sampaguita garlands.
The investigator informed all parties of the preliminary investigation’s purpose and the requirements for the submission of pertinent documents and affidavits.
The guard was ordered to submit his affidavit to SOSIA on or before January 23.
Gultiano earlier said aggravating circumstances would be considered in imposing a penalty against the security guard while his security agency may face a fine or a suspension of license.
The viral video showed the female vendor sitting on the stairs outside a mall in Mandaluyong City when the security guard approached her, asked her to leave and destroyed the garlands she was selling.
Mandaluyong City Police chief Col. Mary Grace Madayag last week said the vendor is a first-year Medical Technology student and refuted claims on social media that she is part of a syndicate of beggars operating within Metro Manila.
However, the uniform she was wearing in the video was from her former high school and that the vendor uses it as a “house dress,” Madayag said.
On the other hand, the vendor’s mother said her daughter, aged 22 according to reports, uses the uniform to make her look “respectable” while selling flowers. (PNA)