Manila cops extend 'red paint' campaign to moneychangers

The Manila police's "shame campaign" against criminals in the city has extended to moneychangers who cheat tourists and fellow Filipinos of their hard-earned money. But GMA-7 television reported Wednesday night that instead of closing down, many of the targets of the shame campaign remained defiant, covering the red paint with newspapers or adopting a business-as-usual attitude. It was a variation of the spray-painting spree of Manila mayor Alfredo Lim, who in the 1990s sprayed the houses of suspected drug pushers in the city. Manila Police District (MPD) Station 5 operatives "visited" Wednesday several money-changer shops along the Ermita tourist district, where money-changers who allegedly cheated their customers reportedly resumed operations. Police sprayed red paint on the shops of money-changers who were told to close shop for cheating their customers earlier. But many of the "suspects" were not in their shops at the time of the spray-painting. However, the report noted that many of the shop owners merely shrugged off the shame campaign, reopening their shops and placing newspapers over the red paint. - GMANews.TV