Teenager reportedly steals P2.7 million for K-pop merchandise
BOHOL, Philippines — A teenager was featured on the GMA show "Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho" for reportedly stealing P2 million from her family in order to grow her secret K-pop collection.
A woman had come across her niece's hidden collection which included up to 3,000 photocards, even some with duplicate copies, across 23 different binders — the most expensive of these being three NCT cards worth P50,000 each — and 50 K-pop albums.
The woman, however, was concerned at how such a collection came about since the family was not well-off. For privacy reasons, the show assigned different names to the people involved, "Bea" as the senior high school student and "Jasmine" as her aunt who discovered the merchandise.
"Bea" had apparently stole the money from the plastics store of her grandmother "Agnes," who raised her since the separation of her parents, where she works part-time.
"Agnes" initially thought that business was slow, not aware that her granddaughter was using the store's income to pay for her collection, and resorted to selling personal belongings to keep afloat.
"Gipit na gipit ako tapos ganun-ganun ang ginawa niya!" "Agnes" cried. "Sakit ng ginawa mo... Buong buhay ko hindi ako naka-ipon ng ganyan, sa loonb ng 36 years ng pagnenegosyo ko."
She even said it still hurts her to see "Bea" with her collection as it reminds her of what had been done to obtain it.
"Napapasaya kasi ako tuwing inu-unbox ko [ang merchandise], nabibigyan ako nge excitment," explained "Bea," who was introduced to K-pop by her schoolmates, though fully aware that she was told by her family that keeping a collection wasn't practical. "May satisfaction kapag napapauwi ko 'yung photocard na hinahanap ko."
"Jasmine" said that her niece had stolen as much as P10,000 in the past while "Bea" herself admitted the most she ever took might have been P20,000.
"Agnes" blamed it on the teenager's biological mother — who was actually adopted — who had stolen P200,000 from her, "Nasa dugo yata talaga."
The family estimates that the collection, including merchandise still about to arrive, is worth P2.7 million. They decided to sell it off to take the money back.
They sought help from an online live seller in spreading the word about the collection. Meanwhile, "Bea" consulted with a psychologist as offered by the show.
"Gagawin ko lahat para magbago, at saka pagtatrabahuan ko ulit na makuha ulit 'yung tiwala nila sa'kin," the teenager sobbed, as the psychologist referred to her condition as an impulse control disorder.
"Agnes" asked that K-pop fans consider buying from her granddaughter's collection first ahead of other merchandise seller so that they coulld return to financial stability and begin mending the family's relationship. — Video from the Facebook page of "Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho"
