Men caught on CCTV taking cash payment machine in Pasig City

Two men were caught on CCTV removing and taking a cash payment machine used to top up e-wallets and pay bills in Pasig City.

According to Emil Sumangil's report on "24 Oras," one of the suspects shook and pulled the machine free from the payment kiosk while the other carried it away.

The machine reportedly contained P30,000 in cash when it was stolen.

“Pwede ka mag-deposit ng pera, magbayad ng RFID, mag-load ng Gcash at talagang may pera dahil hindi pwedeng withdraw-in itong pera na naipasok na,” said Pasig Police chief Police Colonel Celerino Sacro in Emil Sumangil’s “24 Oras” report. 

(You can deposit money, pay RFID, and put cash into your Gcash account through the machine. There’s money inside.)

The theft was discovered when an employee came to collect the money in the machine.

“Mag-collect na sana nang kinikita sa machine itong empleyado. Laking surpresa niya na 'yung e-tap kiosk machine na pag-aari ng kanilang kompanya ay nawala na,” Sacro added. 

(An employee was supposed to collect money from the machine but was surprised because it was missing.)

Police identified the suspects through the CCTV footage and promptly arrested them.

The first to be arrested was the man who carried the machine.

He said committed the crime because of hunger.

Authorities failed to recover the cash from the damaged machine. The suspects said they had already given it to their neighbors. 

“Sana mapatawad na lang po kami ng complainant namin,” one of the suspects said. 

(We hope they can forgive us.)

Police said hunger is not a valid reason to commit crimes. —Sundy Locus/NB, GMA Integrated News