Supermarket employee arrested for stealing PHP31 can of corned beef

A 21-year-old supermarket employee was arrested on Sunday for stealing a can of corned beef worth PHP31 (US$.62) from a supermarket in Manila.

According to a report in ABS-CBN News, Paul Mathew Tanglao took the can from the warehouse and stuck it in his apron because he was hungry.

The incident happened at around 5:40pm. The security guard reported the attempted theft to the store’s management who asked a cashier who witnessed the attempted theft to file a complaint against Tanglao.

According to Inquirer.net, police did not allow them to interview Tanglao citing a need to “protect his privacy.”

Police officers told Inquirer, who went to the Santa Ana Police Station last night where Tanglao is being detained,  that they tried to convince the supermarket not to press charges for stealing the can.

Tanglao faces qualified theft charges. Qualified theft is when someone steals from another who has given them “trust and confidence.” In this case, that’s Tanglao’s employer, the supermarket. So yes, you can be charged for stealing something worth only PHP31.

Many netizens were quick to point out that the corned beef stealing incident was indicative of the lack of social justice in the country.

“A man stole a can of corned beef because he was hungry,” netizen Leni Velasco said in a Facebook post. “Many public servants stole from the wealth of an entire nation because they are greedy just like that. They get free passes out of jail,” she added.

Another Facebook comment from netizen Marko Yambao said, “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?”

Yambao was referring to the tax evasion case of Jean Napoles, daughter of alleged pork barrel scam mastermind Janet Napoles, who is accused of pocketing billions in public funds through her fake NGOs.

Reports did not identify the which supermarket Tanglao worked at, only describing it as “part of one of the largest mall chains in the country.”