Reese Barcelon
Indeed, there are a lot of kindhearted citizens in the country. Sometimes, they would make a way to help those in need by disclosing their situation on social media, and there are also times when they would do a lot of efforts just to be able to help.
However, despite of their willingness and initiative to help, there are also some people who try to take advantage of them.
One of the country’s good Samaritans is Pau Vislenio – who apparently was fooled by the person she helped despite her efforts to make his life easier. She shared her experience with someone named Edward Pangilinan (or Patricia Centino), whom she met at Santuario de San Antonio Parish along with another friend.
According to her, Centino went to her and offered some sweet potatoes which she was selling, but since she doesn’t eat sweet potatoes, she disregarded the teen’s offer. However, the teenager went back to them asking her to buy some so she would have money for her treatment. Due to curiosity, she had a small talk with Centino, who shared her life story.
Centino even bragged that she was known at BGC and The Fort. Vislenio then asked the teen if she’d like her to take a video of her so she could share it to those who are willing to help – which Centino gladly approved of.
As said by Centino, that day was the deadline of the fee that is required for her chemo therapy. She even shared that she has P92,000 presently as the P70,000 came from Billy Crawford, and the P20,000 was from her uncle, while the remaining funds came from her earnings from selling sweet potatoes. Vislenio began doubting her statement but thought that if she won’t help her, she will surely regret it in the future. Because of the teenager’s situation, she and her friend decided to give her some money and help her sell the remaining sweet potatoes, seeing that she brought 25 kilos of it.
They helped her sell the potatoes outside the church, and even outside Rustan’s, to the point where they also told them the story of Centino. Two foreigners even gave him a total of P2,500. After his products got sold, the teen had the courage to ask Vislenio for money to buy a bottle of water despite his earnings for the sweet potatoes. She gave her a hundred peso bill, but she didn’t return the change so Vislenio disregarded it anyway.
Centino said that she was still short by a thousand, and Vislenio volunteered that she will make a way to complete her funds, but the teen refused and said she would go home instead. Again, Vislenio got confused by what she had said since she told them that it was the deadline of the P100,000 fee for her chemotherapy, yet she would be going home to Tondo and the hospital was in QC.
As they were walking home, Centino said that the star—Billy Crawford, asked her to choose between a motorcycle and iPhone6, but she pawned the phone to be able to buy her medicines. It was as if she was indirectly implying that she needs money to get back the phone, saying that Crawford was her sponsor and that he was probably worried about her. She even said that her doctor’s name was Dr. Christian S. Potor, who was practicing in Philippine Orthopedics.
Vislenio told her mom what the teen had been saying, and when she got home, her mother told her that there is no such doctor in the hospital and there are also no Edward Pangilinan who is receiving treatment from the hospital. When she opened her social media account, there were a lot of messages saying that they know Edward (Centino). Her friends told her that she was thrown out by her mother because of what she was doing, and that he often treats her friends.
The netizens who had read Vislenio’s post were dismayed by the young girl who used a fake identity and made up a story just to get easy money, and some of them even cursed Centino.
Moreover, another post from a netizens named Pei Sigua resurfaced saying that this kid was pretending all along.
“Sa lahat po ng nakaka alam nitong post ko na ito last year, na nag-like at lalong lalo na sa mga nagshare, maaari lang po na paki basa po ito.
Siya si Edward Pangilinan. Taga Tondo. Sa post ko po last year (already deleted the caption), tungkol sa batang ito, siya ay nagbebenta ng Kamote sa may BGC at ang sabi po niya ay may bone cancer siya kaya naman po ng dahil sa AWA at KAGUSTUHAN na tumulong eh nagpost po ako.
Madami po ang nagmemessage sakin tungkol sakanya kahit isang taon na po ang nakalipas. Ibinibigay po niya ang pangalan ko sa mga tao para po masearch ako sa Facebook kasi alam niya po na nagpost ako tungkol sa kanya. Yung mga taong nagmemesage eh sakin po tinatanong kung may contact po ako sakanya. Wala na po ako mabigay kasi since then po wala na din ako komunikasyon sa kanya. Pero dahil sa insidente na nangyare kahapon na may isang nagmessage sakin at sinabing nameet niya yung bata, at dahil sa awa eh nagbigay siya ng 5,000 php para makatulong. Yun daw po yung amount na sinabi sakanya ni Edward para sa operasyon niya na gagawin sa October 1. Kinagabihan eh nanghihingi pa din daw yung bata sa kanya ng pera pangdagdag sa pang opera sakanya, mga 6,000 php pa daw sana at binigay pa daw po ang details pang Smart Pera Padala, pero nung tinanong na niya kung saan ang hospital at doctor ni Edward, hindi na po siya sumagot. Doon ko na po naisipan na mag imbestiga na.
Gusto ko lang po linawin na NALOKO niya po kami at ang maraming tao na pinagsasabihan niya ng sitwasyon niya sa kalusugan na HINDI NAMAN PO PALA TOTOO. Paano ko po napatunayan? Sa dami po ng gusto mag cover ng story niya noon, may mga studyante na siya ang gustong gawing konsepto sa kanilang proyekto. Pinuntahan nila ito sa Tondo noon. Nakausap ang Step Dad at Lola ng bata. Ayon sa lider ng grupo ng mga studyante, pag punta nila sa bahay ni Edward eh ayaw magpakita ng bata. Nalaman nila na WALA pong bone cancer ang bata. Hindi daw po siya pinipilit na magtrabaho pero iniinsist pa din daw po ni Edward na magtrabaho pa din at ayon sa kamaganak, para lang naman daw po sa mga gala/alis niya ang kinikita niya. Ngayon ko lang ho ito nalaman kaya naman di ko agad naagapan. Marahil nawala na din sa isip ng mga studyante na i-update ako sa nalaman nila.
Muli, gusto ko lang po ipagbigay alam sa inyo na mag-ingat po tayo sa panahon ngayon. Hindi po natin alam kung sino ang nagsasabi talaga ng totoo. Ang hangad ko lamang po sa post ko nung nakaraang taon eh para po MAKATULONG. Maski din ho kami ng pamilya ko eh naloko lang din po. At hanggang ngayon nadadamay po ang pangalan ko dahil ginagamit at binibigay niya ito sa mga hinihingan niya ng tulong, siguro po paraan niya yon para mapaniwala ang mga tao. Nagbebenta pa din daw po siya sa Global City.
Mabait na bata daw ho si Edward, ayon sa kanyang Lola. Ang gusto ko lang ho sana mangyari ngayon eh matigil na ang kanyang pangloloko sa mga tao, na matigil na ang kanyang modus para makakuha ng malaking pera sa mga tao. Sana maliwanagan siya na marangal ang trabaho na pagbebenta ng kamote, pero sana magawa nia sa patas na paraan na hindi nagsisinungaling at hindi nangloloko ng kapwa.
Again, we are all fooled by this kid. But let’s respect him still and be kind. Pwede pa din po nating bilin ang mga binebenta niyang kamote, pero sa tamang presyo na ho. At ngayon alam niyo na ho na wala talaga siyang bone cancer, sana makatulong po ako na hindi po kayo maloko ng batang ito kapag po nakita niyo siya sa kung saan. Salamat po. God bless us all.”
Just like everybody else, if a person needs money, they should work hard for it and prove that they deserve to receive such amount. There is no easy way to get rich, especially when a person is not born with a silver spoon.
Also, people should be cautious when helping as more and more people is starting to build a modus by making up stories which might seem tragic to others.
