Shop video shows Filipina-looking woman allegedly stealing bag of shopper

By Daisy CL Mandap

CCTV footage with the alleged thief

A Filipina domestic helper has appealed for help in locating a compatriot who was caught on CCTV while apparently taking off with her handbag from a shop in Central the other Sunday, Jun 17.

(CCTV footage here: 

https://www.facebook.com/Hotline.control/videos/pcb.1954735104551445/1954729491218673/?type=3&theater)

Milagros A. Galvan, 49, said all her important documents were in her purple-colored bag, including her passport, HK ID card and employment contract, apart from $2,000 cash, some coins, a bunch of keys, bank passbook, octopus card, and a power bank.

She said she had all her documents with her as she needed them to update her records with Metrobank.

“Hindi naman niya kailangan ang mga dokumento ko, bakit niya kinuha? Sana ibalik niya sa Philippine Consulate. Kahit kunin na niya ang pera kung kailangan niya,” Galvan said.

Galvan says she just wants her documents back

The alleged theft happened between 6:20-6:30pm on Jun 17 in a ground-floor shop in Eurotrade Centre on 21-23 Des Voeux Road Central. Galvan she momentarily placed her bag on a clothes rack so she could take out her phone and read messages on what she was supposed to buy there for her child, but found it gone the next time she looked.

“Ang bilis,” she said in a message.

Galvan said that the shopkeeper helped her look for her bag, but when they couldn’t find it, checked the store’s CCTV camera. There they saw another Filipina-looking woman in a blue shirt discreetly putting Galvan’s bag strap around her wrist, before quickly moving away.

Galvan immediately reported the theft to the Central Police station, and showed them the footage from the shop’s CCTV. The police reportedly told her to wait a week for an update but she had yet to receive a call from them.

Galvan, who lives in Yuen Long and has been working in Hong Kong for 24 years, said she just wants her documents back as it will take time to replace them all, and she has difficulty moving around without them.