A month after a Korean footballer was victimized, another personality encountered pickpockets at the Bonifacio Global City in Taguig.
Former Brazilian beauty queen Priscilla Meirelles, actor John Estrada‘s wife, said that her iPhone 15 Plus was stolen while she was grocery shopping at The Marketplace in Uptown Mall on August 16 afternoon.
Based on a statement by the Taguig City Police Station, she was doing a Facebook Live while checking the items she was about to purchase.
“After finishing their shopping, they proceeded to the cashier to pay. While they’re [in] the line [at] the cashier, suddenly, six unidentified individuals intentionally [bump] into her front and behind, creating a distraction [that] she believes allowed them to steal her iPhone 15 from her bag,” the police said on August 19.
Priscilla noticed her phone was missing just as they were about to leave the premises.
The former Miss Earth titleholder reported the incident to the security guard, who escorted her to the administrative office.
She also claimed to have screengrabs of the culprits’ faces.
By 11:30 p.m. of the same day, Priscilla called the police and informed them that she was able to trace the possible location of her phone through its “Find My iPhone” feature somewhere in Holy Spirit, Quezon City.
The police said that her phone was recovered at the Greenhills Shopping Mall in San Juan City on Monday morning, where stalls for “Buy and Sell” of used phones were rampant.
They were also able to identify two of the six suspects who sold the stolen cellphone.
Priscilla said she would file a case against the suspects to stop them from victimizing others.
The former beauty queen acknowledged the efforts of the police and the security team of the Uptown Mall for their help.
“Will wait for further advice and updates from BGC police department and Uptown Mall security regarding the identification of pickpockets. The goal is to catch them,” she wrote.
The incident alarmed some Filipinos who observed that pickpockets appeared to be “prevalent” in the central business district lately.
“The premiere residential-business district is pickpocket infested. Shame,” an online user wrote.
“[Ang] dami na actually kawatan sa BGC, it’s not safe there anymore,” another Facebook user commented.
“Lotsa crooks in BGC now,” an online user wrote.
Last month, South Korean footballer Yi-young Park shared his experience of chasing pickpockets who attempted to steal his wallet in front of the One Bonifacio mall.
He was able to retrieve his wallet, but some of his cash were missing.
The athlete is a defender for Kaya FC-Iloilo, a professional football club in Iloilo City. He moved to the Philippines in 2013.
RELATED: Footballer Yi-young Park is latest victim of BGC pickpockets
Meanwhile, the BGC management said that Yi-young was able to “received immediate assistance from a BGC security officer” during the incident.
However, it said that the footballer “declined” when they “offered additional support to file a police report at the Police Sub-Station inside BGC.”
“BGC remains vigilant in observing measures and actively cooperating with the local authorities to ensure that safety remains an utmost priority within its spaces,” the administration said in a statement before.
ALSO READ: BGC responds to pickpocket incident involving footballer Yi-young Park
The Megaworld Lifestyle Malls also said that it is “fully committed to providing a safe and enjoyable shopping experience for everyone.”
“We’re pleased to share that this matter was promptly addressed, and Ms. Meirelles herself has confirmed that the situation has been handled appropriately,” it said on its X (formerly Twitter) account on Monday.
“Our security team is also coordinating with authorities for the quick resolution of this incident,” it added.
