Police officials in Pasay City alerted Filipinos who are returning from abroad about a modus operandi operated near the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) that targets them. They are advised to be cautious against opening the doors or windows of their vehicles to beggars or streetchildren that might approach them along the streets near NAIA to avoid being hurt or losing valuables. This modus is apparently done by a gang called “gagamba boys,” a group of males which are mostly in their teens.

According to Rodolfo Llorca, the chief Senior Superintendent of Pasay City police, a member of the gang would persistently knock or rap on the vehicles of balikbayans and when the passenger finally opened it, other gang members would proceed to take whatever valuable items that they can get. The poor victims take the risk of being hurt if they resist as there are cases when gang members hit the heads of the victims.

Llorca also said that these “gagamba boys” usually schedule their attack around 9 am because they know that this is the usual arrival time of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs). It is also a time when traffic is worse so they can freely do their scam.

The Pasay police chief admitted that they are having a difficult time stopping this modus because they cannot arrest the gang members which are mostly minors. They can only turn them over to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) which would also release them after a few hours or a few days.