MANILA, Philippines — The Pasay police warned the public to watch out for counterfeit paper bills, following the recovery of P12,500 in fake money from two women on Saturday night.
The police also want the public to be extra-cautious with the mid-term elections only a few weeks away.
“The people have more reason not to allow their votes to be bought this coming elections. You could be duped with fake money and your vote would be stolen all at once,” Senior Superintendent Rodolfo Llorca, Pasay police chief, said.
Police arrested two women around 11 p.m. on Saturday when stall vendors at the Aliwan Fiesta, a three-day annual event held at the Cultural Center of the Philippines grounds, spotted that the two P1,000 paper bills the two women had paid them bore the same serial numbers.
While the two were waiting for their change, one of the vendors quietly alerted the nearest precinct of the Pasay police.
The suspects were identified as Mylen Gellado, 30, and Cathy Bautista, 24, both residents of Batasan, Quezon City.
Llorca said the police later discovered that the suspects bought other assorted goods from eight other vendors using the fake bills.
During the arrest, the police recovered from them 12 fake P1,000 bills and one P500 bill.
Llorca said the two women were with four other people in using counterfeit paper bills to buy goods at the CCP grounds.
“But the other four managed to escape,” Llorca said. The two women have been detained at the Pasay police headquarters and will be charged with illegal possession and use of false treasury and bank notes and other Instruments of Credits in the Pasay prosecutor’s office, according to the police.