It’s 2019 and infamous “coffee date” scammer Xian Gaza is still trying to stay relevant.
He’s viral once again after claiming in a Facebook post yesterday that he managed to sneak out of the country despite having three arrest warrants.
“Thread: How to leave the Philippines with three arrest warrants and a five-year sentence,” Gaza wrote in Filipino on his Facebook page.
Ever the drama king, he also wrote: “Warning: The following heart-pumping storyline thread are based on real life events of yours truly Christian Albert Gaza on 30th of September year 2018.”
He narrated the supposed escape in seven photos, some showing him wearing a face mask.
Gaza said that in September last year, he went to Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 with three tickets, one bound for Singapore, one for Hong Kong, and another for Taipei. He said he checked in for the Singapore and Taipei flights online and used them as “decoys.”
He waited for the check-in counters to close for the Hong Kong flight, supposedly so he wouldn’t be part of the “main passenger manifest,” then allegedly persuaded an on-ground attendant to give him a boarding pass after the counters closed.
He also supposedly waited ’til the last minute to board the plane, and queued up a long immigration line even after attendants announced that passengers for his flight will be boarding in five minutes. Basically, his strategy was to board the plane just moments before take off.
“This is the moment! My nerves were insane,” Gaza said about the time he allegedly finally faced an immigration officer.
He doesn’t actually have a hold departure order but the officer allegedly said that they would still need to notify the police that he was leaving the country. They allegedly let him through immigration and so he rushed to the boarding gate.
Gaza said that the airline was already announcing the final call for boarding when he arrived at the gate and that they were calling out his name. He managed to board the plane but claims that airport police and a uniformed police officer suddenly entered the aircraft.
He said he hid from them by locking himself inside the restroom, where he supposedly cried and prayed while having a “panic attack.”
He then claimed that the police left and assumed that they were headed to his two decoy flights.
“As I sat on my assigned seat, I looked out the window, a very emotional Xian. Because I know that that will be my last moment in my beloved country, the Philippines,” Gaza said.
He said he had decided to move to a Latin American country and apply for citizenship there. “New identity, new citizenship, new passport, new life.”
While his story is dubious, it seems to have gotten Gaza exactly what he wanted — internet virality. As of this article’s posting, his post has 25,000 shares, 15,000 reactions, and close to 9,000 comments.
Even the Department of Justice (DOJ) has spoken out about the incident. DOJ spokesperson Undersecretary Mark Perete told ABS-CBN News that they are now verifying Gaza’s claims with the help of the Bureau of Immigration (BI). Perete told Rappler that they will confirm the status of the alleged cases against Gaza.
BI Spokesperson Dana Sandoval did not mince words and called Gaza’s story “preposterous.”
She told News5: “His story sounds like it was taken straight out of an action movie. The story is preposterous, similar to other claims he made in the past.
“If you know regular airport procedures, his story sounds silly. There are so many loopholes. Booking numerous flights will not help evade police. Everything is recorded in our systems, with one click you’ll know which flight a person really took.”
Gaza surrendered to the police in April last year for violating the Anti-Bouncing Checks law in connection to an investment scam. He was released after posting bail the next day. Ever active on social media, he even tried to sell the t-shirt he wore the day he surrendered for a whopping PHP9,000 (US$172.46). He was then sentenced to five years in jail.
Gaza first got a taste of internet infamy after asking actress Erich Gonzales out on a coffee date using a billboard. He instantly became a meme, with many copying the way he vlogs his travels and says the expression “nyeam,” a word he supposedly coined.
In another Facebook post from yesterday, Gaza tagged that he was in Singapore. He then followed this up with a post saying: “PLOT TWIST: I was actually just in Palawan, taking care of lobsters. My late revelation was actually just a diversion, just kidding!”
But in a later post, he talked about his supposed escape again, reiterating his plan to live in Latin America.
Whatever you say, man.
Reader Interactions