Girl in viral scuffle with mall guard not minor but a college scholar - police

Metro Manila, Philippines - The girl in a viral scuffle with a mall security guard while selling flowers was a college student taking up medical technology and not a minor, police said on Friday.

In an interview with NewsWatch Plus, Col. Mary Grace Madayag, Mandaluyong city police chief, dismissed speculations that the “sampaguita girl” posed as a student and part of a syndicate.

A trending video filmed on Dec. 17, 2024 showed the guard approaching the vendor sitting outside the mall and instructing her to move elsewhere. The guard grabbed her goods, tore them apart, and kicked the vendor, prompting the girl to throw her products at the security officer.

Madayag said the vendor was a first year student in a private school, and a partial scholar. This means she has to shoulder the other half of her P30,000 tuition every semester, the police said.

The police said the girl was in a public high school uniform when she was selling flowers.

“Nagkataon lang na iyon ang suot niya noong nagbebenta. Tinanong ko bakit hindi iyon ang suot mo? Iyon daw po ay kanyang pambahay dahil hindi naman daw po nila pwedeng itapon,” Madayag told NewsWatch Plus.

[Translation: It just so happened that that’s what she was wearing while selling. I asked her, 'Why weren’t you wearing something else?’ She claimed that was her home clothes because they couldn’t just throw them away.]

Madayag said the girl came from a family of vendors and lives in Quezon City.

“Siya ang lumabas ng Quezon City at sa Mandaluyong nagbebenta kasi mas mabilis daw mabenta sa Mandaluyong,” the police said.

[Translation: She went out of Quezon City and sold in Mandaluyong because it’s said to be faster to sell in Mandaluyong]

Madayag, however, said selling within mall properties is prohibited.

Undecided to file a case

Madayag said the vendor is undecided if she will press charges against the security guard.

In a statement, the mall said the guard “has been dismissed (by the security agency) and will no longer be allowed to service” at any of its malls.

Madayag said neither the guard nor his security agency has been involved in similar cases from the past.

“Ang security agency, ang atin na pong PNP-SOSIA ang makikipag-ugnayan sa kanila…Iyon naman pong sa biktima, kung gusto mag-file ng criminal case, tutulungan naman po at may lawyers na nagbibigay ng assistance sa kanya,” the police said.

[Translation: The security agency, along with our PNP-SOSIA (Supervisory Office for Security and Investigation Agencies), will coordinate with them... As for the victim, if she wants to file a criminal case, we will assist her, and there are lawyers providing assistance to her]