The Mandaluyong City Police confirmed that the young girl involved in a viral altercation with a mall security guard is a college student and not a member of any criminal syndicate, as some social media users alleged.
The video showed the girl, wearing a school uniform, being approached by a security guard while sitting on the steps of a Metro Manila mall. The guard reportedly asked her to leave and destroyed the sampaguita flowers she was selling.
“She is a real student and even a scholar at a private institution. She’s a smart and hardworking individual trying to meet her school needs,” clarified Mandaluyong Police Chief Col. Mary Grace Madayag in an interview on Friday.
Madayag also debunked claims that the girl was pretending to be a student to engage in illegal activities, emphasizing, “She is not part of any syndicate.”
Authorities, including personnel from the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), visited the girl’s family in Barangay Holy Spirit, Quezon City. The girl, an 18-year-old medical technology student, was wearing her old high school uniform as house clothes, Madayag explained.
The incident, which occurred on December 17, 2024, was filmed without the girl’s consent and uploaded online. The video had been briefly taken down at the family’s request but was re-uploaded by the vlogger who captured it.
The girl’s family, who earns a living selling sliced fruits, recently lost their home to demolition. While they have yet to decide on legal action against the security guard or the vlogger, the CHR has provided a lawyer to assist them.
The police have identified the vlogger responsible for the video and continue to monitor the situation.
