Vendors at the Libertad Public Market in Bacolod City fell victims to persons who purchased goods using fake money.

One of the vendors referred to only as “Joel” received a fake P500 bill from a customer. He said that the customer walked away with some of his genuine bills in the form of change.

A vendor lost around P2,000 when a customer bought fish using fake money.

Joel said that because he is preoccupied attending to customers, he had not inspected the bill handed to him.

“Sa sobrang abala namin kung minsan, deretso na naming inilalagay sa lalagyan,” Joel said.

“Ang fake daw kasi parang totoo rin sya. Kung titingnan mo nang mabuti, malalaman mo na fake siya,” Erlyn, the other victim, said.

In addition, a victim named Alvin said it is not easy to detect the fake bill. He said that the difference between genuine and fake money is not obvious at first glance when the bill is wet despite the use of a counterfeit detection device.

“Pinaghihirapan mo, tapos babayaran ka ng pekeng pera,” Alvin complained.

According to the president of the Libertad Market Vendors Association, the modus is not new at all to the market.

“Mga ganitong buwan, palapit na ang August, naglalabasan na ang mga pekeng pera,” Randy de la Cruz, president of the Libertad Market Vendors Association, said.

The group believes that there is more than one perpetrator.

“May kasama sila, na siyang nag-entertain sa iyo. Kapag nagbayad na, hindi mo malalaman na fake ang pera,” de la Cruz said.

The police are focused tightly on tracing the perpetrators believed to be in one group.

“Sa ngayon, sa persons of interest, wala pa kasi marami pa tayong dapat tingnan. When it comes sa tanong kung may nakulong na, definitely, mayroon na,” Captain Dax Santillan, chief of Police Station 6, said. 

The authorities have reminded vendors to always check thoroughly the security features of the money bills before dealing with unscrupulous individuals posing as customers.