Last Sunday, Dec. 10, Manila supermarket employee Paul Matthew Tanglao, 21, was arrested for stealing a can of corned beef worth PHP31 ($US.62).
And as of posting time, Tanglao is still in jail.
“Look, the money spent on photocopying the documents needed to file the case in court is more expensive than the price of the corned beef,” a police officer at the Santa Ana police station told a reporter from Inquirer.net.
According to the same report, Tanglao’s mother had already posted bail but it did not say if he would be released within the week.
READ: Supermarket employee arrested for stealing PHP31 can of corned beef
Social media erupted over the ridiculousness of the case and used Tanglao’s situation to point out the social injustice that still persists in the Philippines.
Netizens juxtaposed the recently dismissed tax evasion case of Jeane Napoles, the daughter of alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Napoles, with Tanglao’s arrest.
A Facebook comment from netizen Marko Yambao reads, “This is a sad Christmas for the employee who tried to take corned beef because of hunger, while Jean Napoles can have a wild Christmas party using our funds. My soul can’t be at peace because of how unfair the world is. What can we do to help this guy?”
Tanglao told Inquirer that he only had PHP20 (US$.40) in his pocket when he reported for work and didn’t even have enough money to get home to Makati City.
By 5:45pm that day, Tanglao said he could no longer put up with his hunger and took the can.
Tanglao said he expected to be fired but was surprised when he was thrown in jail.
Media reports have still not identified the supermarket.
