FILE PHOTO Vice President and presidential aspirant Leni Robredo. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE
MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Leni Robredo on Tuesday raised concern over the riders and personal shoppers who were inconvenienced after “scammers” flooded her office with P100,000 worth of grocery items she did not order.
“I was in the office, deep in meetings, yesterday when three delivery riders arrived with more than P100,000 worth of goods from three merchants in my name on a cash on delivery basis,” Robredo said in a statement on Facebook.
“When I was told about this, nag alala ako sa delivery riders. Sobrang abala sa kanila,” she said. “Baka akala ng scammers yung burden nasa amin.”
On Monday, Office of the Vice President (OVP) spokesperson Barry Gutierrez said multiple orders naming Robredo as “client” were made through an online grocery app and delivered to their headquarters in New Manila, Quezon City, on a cash-on-delivery or COD scheme.
“Hindi iniisip na kinakawawa nila yung riders saka yung mga shoppers nila na nabiktima. Umuulan pa naman kahapon and nabasa sila,” Robredo said.
The vice president then thanked grocery delivery app Metromart for returning the items to its partner supermarkets.
“Sana lang sa panahon ng matinding kagipitan, huwag ng mag isip ng mga panloloko at yung mga maliliit na naman yung mga nabibiktima,” Robredo added.
Metromart, in a statement attached to Robredo’s Facebook post, said “all items have been returned to our partner supermarkets and stores without charging the riders.”
It also said it increased its security and fraud detection measures against scammers in a bid to prevent similar situations from happening.
“We are calling on the public not to scam, prank and waste the time of our delivery riders and shoppers who are working hard to support their families and are risking their lives to safely deliver groceries to Filipino homes during this pandemic,” Metromart added.