Pedicab ‘Romeo’ nabbed for not paying ‘balut’ vendor

MANILA, Philippines—A 35-year-old pedicab driver, who apparently tried to impress his two female companions by treating them to “balut,” was arrested by Manila policemen after he allegedly failed to pay a teenage vendor P800 worth of the boiled duck eggs.

The Manila Police District Sta. Cruz station 3 personnel have also fanned out to find the two women whose favors he was attempting to get.

Balut is a popular Filipino street food of boiled duck egg with a nearly developed chick inside. Some believe the delicacy to be an aphrodisiac while others are repulsed by it.

SPO1 Manuel Crom, MPD station 3 desk officer, identified the suspect as 35-year-old pedicab driver Carlito Palaw, of Tioco Street in Tondo. He was nabbed on the estafa complaint of a 13-year-old balut vendor while his female companions were able to evade arrest.

Crom said the incident happened at around 10 pm, Wednesday, at the corner of Rizal and CM Recto avenues in Sta. Cruz.

The desk officer said that before the incident, the teenager was selling his wares near a bus terminal at the street corner when Palaw and his two female companions approached him to get some of the balut.

Based on the teenager’s complaint, the three kept on getting eggs from his basket. But when he asked Palaw to pay for them, the pedicab driver allegedly refused. This prompted the 13-year-old boy to seek the help of a policeman who immediately responded and arrested Palaw while his two female companions were able to flee.

Palaw is facing an estafa charge for the unpaid balut while the two unidentified women are the subject of follow-up operations by the MPD station 3 operatives.