Vloggers responsible for Las Piñas City prank could face additional charges

The vloggers who have been charged already over the public prank in the form of a kidnapping in Las Piñas City in the presence of a police officer could face additional charges from the police, according to a Philippine Star news report. It also turns out that the said incident took place at Barangay BF International – CAA.

To put things in perspective, posted below is an excerpt from the Philippine Star news report. Some parts in boldface…

Police are eyeing more criminal charges against three vloggers who were responsible for a kidnapping prank in Las Piñas City recently.

Col. Jean Fajardo, spokesperson for the Philippine National Police, said the PNP Anti-Cybercrime Group is studying if additional complaints could be filed against the content creators behind Tukomi, which has 4.21 million subscribers on YouTube and 4.21 million followers on Facebook.

Fajardo said the vloggers uploaded a video of the kidnap prank on social media platforms, which generated thousands of comments from netizens.

The vloggers are facing complaints for alarm and scandal filed by the police Integrity Monitoring and Enforcement Group (IMEG) before the Las Piñas prosecutor’s office.

The respondents are Mark Lester San Rafael, Mark Hiroshi San Rafael and Eleazar Stephen Fuentes.

The vloggers staged a scene which showed men wearing black bonnets kidnapping a person in Barangay CAA-BF International.

Unknown to them, an off-duty police officer, S/Sgt. Ronnie Conmingo of the IMEG, was in front of a nearby store when the content creators staged the stunt.

Let me end this piece by asking you readers: If you are a Las Piñas City resident, what is your reaction to this new development? Do you think that digital content creators who organize public pranks and post videos of them should be held accountable for causing disturbance on others? What do you think should be done with pranksters who organize pretentious acts of crime like kidnapping?

You may answer in the comments below. If you prefer to answer privately, you may do so by sending me a direct message online.

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Thank you for reading. If you find this article engaging, please click the like button below and also please consider sharing this article to others. If you are looking for a copywriter to create content for your special project or business, check out my services and my portfolio. If you want to support my website, please consider making a donation. Feel free to contact me with a private message. Also please feel free to visit my Facebook page Author Carlo Carrasco and follow me on Twitter at  @HavenorFantasy as well as on Tumblr at https://carlocarrasco.tumblr.com/ and on Instagram athttps://www.instagram.com/authorcarlocarrasco/.

For more South Metro Manila community news and developments, come back here soon. Also say NO to fake news, NO to irresponsible journalism, NO to misinformation, NO to plagiarists, NO to reckless publishers and NO to sinister propaganda when it comes to news and developments. For South Metro Manila community developments, member engagements, commerce and other relevant updates, join the growing South Metro Manila Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/342183059992673

German vlogger arrested by Muntinlupa police officers for allegedly raping minor in motel

Recently a German national who published online a video of his own acts of picking up a local girl in the Alabang area and paying her got apprehended by Muntinlupa City’s police officers for allegedly committing rape, according to news report by the Manila Bulletin. The video, which was posted on Facebook and YouTube, caught the attention of Mayor Ruffy Biazon who wanted the vlogger declared persona non grata. The German national goes by the online identity as “Mr. Pogi German”. In the news report of GMA Network, it was stated that the suspect has been overstaying here in the Philippines according to the Bureau of Immigration (BI).

To put things in perspective, posted below is the excerpt from the Manila Bulletin news report. Some parts in boldface…

A German vlogger who posted a video on Facebook and YouTube that showed him picking up a girl in Alabang, Muntinlupa, paying her P1,000 as “help” and kissing her was arrested by the police for alleged rape.

Marcel Messall, more popularly known as “Mr. Pogi German” on his social media accounts, was nabbed by the Muntinlupa police on Jan. 10.

Based on the report by Muntinlupa police chief Col. Angel Garcillano, the girl that Messall picked in Alabang turned out to be 17 years old, a minor, and not 18 as he claimed in the video.

Messall, 29, a resident of Barangay San Isidro, Rodriguez, Rizal, was nabbed by combined elements of the Muntinlupa police’s Alabang Substation and Intelligence Section.

Based on the investigation by the police, the victim had a chat with Massell on the Messenger app. They met in front of a mall in Alabang and he invited her to go to a motel.

The police said, however, Messall “insisted to have a sexual Intercourse with the victim but the latter refused to it. The suspect forced to undress the victim” and had sex with her.

The victim told her mother what Massell did to her and they went to the Women and Children Protection Unity of the Muntinlupa police to report the incident.

Messall will be charged with violation Republic Act 8353 (The Anti-Rape Law of 1997) in relation to Republic Act 7610 (Special Protection of Children Against Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act).

Muntinlupa Mayor Ruffy Biazon on Jan. 9 condemned Massell’s video showing him picking up the woman in Alabang, bringing her to a motel and kissing her–all caught on video, which he uploaded on Facebook and YouTube.

Biazon asked the Muntinlupa City Council to declare “MR Pogi German” persona non grata in the city after the mayor was tagged by a netizen in the latter’s video, which was uploaded on Jan. 7 on Facebook.

Messall’s video, titled “I’ve Met a 18 Years old Filipina Pick Up Girl from alabang Muntinlupa,” has garnered 10 million views, more than 13,000 comments and more than 256,000 reactions as of this writing.

“Sa una, akala ko papakita pa niyang nagmamagandang loob siya na tinutulungan yung 18-year-old single mother na mabigyan ng kaunting panggastos. Akala ko ang ending ay kunwari dinala niya ito sa kwarto tapos bibigyan nya ng pera tapos hahayaan na niya. Pauuwiin na niya, binigyan ng aral. Obviously hindi iyon ang nangyari. Meron pang scene na pinost sa kanyang vlog na nagtalukbong sila dun sa kumot (Initially, I thought he was doing a good deed of helping the 18-year-old single mother by giving her money to spend. I thought the ending was him bringing the woman to the [motel] room and then he would give money and let her go. He would send her home after lecturing her. Obviously, this did not happen. There is a scene that he posted on his vlog that they hid under the sheets),” said Biazon.

The mayor said, “Ang parang lumalabas sa akin, parang napopromote na dito sa Muntinlupa, with P1,000 may makukuha ka (For me, it seems that it is being promoted that in Muntinlupa, with P1,000 you can get [a woman]). That is something we should not tolerate.”

“Mr. Pogi German” even encouraged other women to participate.

“Who wants to be the next girl for my content?! Tara na pm me!!!” he wrote.

“Obviously, pinagkakakitaan niya rin ito. Ang masama dito, he is actually promoting prostitution (Obviously, he is making money out of this. The bad thing is he is actually promoting prostitution),” said Biazon.

For added insight, watch the Tagalog news video of GMA Network below.

Let me end this piece by asking you readers: If you are a Muntinlupa City resident, what is your reaction to this development? Have you seen the controversial video online already? If you did, are you convinced that prostitution and rape really happened? Do you think that Muntinlupa could be a hot spot for prostitution and rape now?

You may answer in the comments below. If you prefer to answer privately, you may do so by sending me a direct message online.

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Thank you for reading. If you find this article engaging, please click the like button below, share this article to others and also please consider making a donation to support my publishing. If you are looking for a copywriter to create content for your special project or business, check out my services and my portfolio. Feel free to contact me with a private message. Also please feel free to visit my Facebook page Author Carlo Carrasco and follow me on Twitter at  @HavenorFantasy as well as on Tumblr at https://carlocarrasco.tumblr.com/ and on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/authorcarlocarrasco

For more South Metro Manila community news and developments, come back here soon. Also say NO to fake news, NO to irresponsible journalism, NO to misinformation, NO to plagiarists, NO to reckless publishers and NO to sinister propaganda when it comes to news and developments. For South Metro Manila community developments, member engagements, commerce and other relevant updates, join the growing South Metro Manila Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/342183059992673

Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) on the lookout for local vloggers who made millions of pesos

Are you a vlogger based here in the Philippines who made a lot of money recently? Be aware that the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) is on the lookout for vloggers they might find taxable. The other day, it was reported by the Manila Bulletin that the BIR is paying close attention to a certain unidentified couple who allegedly earned between P50 million to P100 million (US$1 million to US$2 million based on the latest foreign exchange rates) that past few years and the deletion of their social media channel was seen to be a move to avoid taxation. It should be noted that the BIR launched a campaign focused on social media influencers or SMIs.

To put things in perspective, posted below is an excerpt from the Manila Bulletin article. Some parts in boldface…

A couple, who reportedly raked in multi-million pesos from video blogging (vlogging), abruptly deleted their social media channel in what the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) officials believe to be an attempt to avoid paying taxes.

Based on the initial investigation of the BIR, the couple earned P50 to P100 million in the past two years which enabled them to buy luxury vehicles and built a mansion somewhere in Metro Manila.

BIR sources said the couple deleted their channel days after BIR Commissioner Caesar R. Dulay announced a crackdown against social media influencers (SMIs) who have been receiving earning huge sum of money from social media platforms like YouTube and Facebook by compelling them to pay taxes.

The couple, BIR officials said, had more than 11 million subscribers. The names of the pair were withheld pending the outcome of the investigation.

But the BIR said it will still run after the couple, saying deleting the social media channel will not excuse them from paying taxes.

Vloggers are classified as self-employed subject to 12 percent value-added tax if annual income is P3 million and more, eight percentage tax if less than the amount and tax exempt if not more than P250,000.

Dulay advised vloggers to be truthful in their income tax declaration to avoid facing tax evasion charges.

The article ended stating that social media influencers cannot hide their respective income because the “tax authorities of countries where the social media platforms are based are obligated to furnish the BIR with their salaries under a tax treaty agreement with the Philippines.”

For the newcomers reading this, the penalties for tax evasion has been updated this year in accordance to the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Act. A person found guilty of tax evasion, the financial penalty is now P500,000 to P10 million. Imprisonment will be 6 to 10 years.

In closing this piece, let me ask you readers: Do you believe that the BIR’s search for qualified vloggers or SMIs to tax is good for the Philippines? Do you believe that your favorite vloggers or SMIs have a legal obligation to pay taxes? Do you believe that the affected vloggers/SMIs will react by promoting/favoring the politicians or potential election candidates who oppose the current administration?

You may answer in the comments below. If you prefer to answer privately, you may do so by sending me a direct message online.

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Thank you for reading. If you find this article engaging, please click the like button below and also please consider sharing this article to others. If you are looking for a copywriter to create content for your special project or business, check out my services and my portfolio. Feel free to contact me as well. Also please feel free to visit my Facebook page Author Carlo Carrasco and follow me at HavenorFantasy@twitter.com

For more South Metro Manila community news and developments, come back here soon. Also say NO to fake news, NO to irresponsible journalism, NO to misinformation, NO to plagiarists, NO to reckless publishers and NO to sinister propaganda when it comes to news and developments. For South Metro Manila community developments, member engagements, commerce and other relevant updates, join the growing South Metro Manila Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/342183059992673