Manila barangay puzzled as men enter, exit manhole

Officials of a barangay in Manila's Tondo district were puzzled as their security cameras recorded several men entering and exiting a manhole in the neighborhood.

According to a 24 Oras report by Mark Salazar on Friday, CCTV recorded two men entering the manhole past 8 p.m. on February 18 with five other men serving as look-outs.

Two men were then seen exiting the same manhole on February 21 at around 5 a.m., and four others exited later on the same day.

“Ano nga bang purpose? Ang thinking namin before baka ito yung mga group na gumagawa ng mga tunnel. Termite gang? Yun mga ganun. Yung pawnshop nag alarm mga 12 a.m., then 1 a.m. lumabas yung tao [ng manhole] kaya lumalakas ang ano namin sa intensyon nila sa pagpasok sa tunnel sa drainage na yun,” said Barangay 83 Chairman Eugenio Santiago.

(What exactly is the purpose? Our thinking before is that this could be the group that makes tunnels. Termite gang, like that. The pawnshop's alarm went off at 12 a.m., then the people emerged from [the manhole] at 1 a.m. So we have suspicions about their entering the tunnel, the drainage.)

The manhole had a one by two feet opening and was over two feet deep.

“Ang drainage na yan, ang gitna nyan malaki. Ang intindi ko, kaya mong tumayo. May ginawang drainage dyan dati na makakatayo ka sa laki ng butas,” Santiago added.

(This drainage has a big space in the center. From my understanding, you could stand there. A drainage was dug there before. There's enough space to stand.)

While no individuals were caught at the manhole during their investigation, authorities were able to recover a metal saw, a hammer, a chain pulley, and several bundles of copper wire from the manhole.

“Parang ang ano ko lang wires lang talaga ang target nila. Wala kasi silang pang ano ng semento pangtistis ng bato, pangbutas ng wall,” Santiago explained.

(I think they were only after wires. They don’t have anything for digging through cement, for grinding concrete, for punching holes in the wall.)

“Ngayon, nagga-gather din ako ng mga information sa mga kapwa ko chairman na naka experience na ng ganyang klase ng pagpasok sa drainage na ang purpose ay wire dati ng PLDT tina-target nila yung abandoned,” he added.

(Now, I’m also gathering information from my fellow chairmen who also experienced this kind of incident in which people enter drainages to target copper wires.)

The barangay has now tightened security over their manholes. — Jiselle Casucian/DVM, GMA Integrated News