Odd Scraps of Knowledge

Below is a clipping from a Philippine newspaper — self has no idea what newspaper, or the date of the article, but it was in a desk drawer where self shoves all the odds and ends of useless knowledge she picks up during her peregrinations:

Swindlers fleeced a 41-year-old spinster of 19,000 pesos (about $452) in cash and a 29-year-old female overseas contract worker of cash and jewelry worth 10,600 pesos (about $252) in Pasig City in two separate cases of estafa dubbed as “budol-budol,” police said yesterday.

Rosario Pimentel, 41, single of 22 San Ignacio, Baryo Kapitolyo, complained to police that three men and two women whom she did not identify got from her 19,000 pesos by means of deceit.

Rosemarie Obispo, 29, single, overseas contract worker, native of Iloilo City, of 288 Flower Street, Taguig, told police she was sweet-talked to part with her watch, two rings, necklace and 1,000 pesos (about $24) in cash in exchange for a parcel supposedly containing money worth more than 10,600 pesos (about $252) —  the total value of her jewelry and cash —  but which turned out to be wads of worthless paper cut like money bills.

Both incidents occurred Aug. 1, police said.

“Budol-budol” is a term derived from a Visayan manner of referring to bundle or cluster of bills.

Pimentel and Obispo are the latest victims of sweet-talking swindlers who operate in tandems or four or five in Pasig City, gypping a 41-year-old market vendor of 185,000 pesos (about $4,406) on July 9 and a 65-year-old widow of 40,000 pesos (about $953) on June 8, according to police records.

Stay tuned, dear blog readers.  Stay tuned.