MANILA, Philippines – A viral video of a security guard from a popular mall has been making rounds on social media, showing the guard shooing away a young girl selling sampaguita outside the establishment in Mandaluyong City.
Based on the circulating videos, it can be seen how the security guard became violent while ejecting the young student, who was sitting on the steps outside SM Megamall with a bunch of sampaguita flowers.
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| Photo courtesy: Screenshots from RBrezzy (FB) |
The video also shows how the security guard tried to forcibly grab the sampaguita from the student. As a result, the child attempted to hit the security guard with the plastic bag holding the sampaguita. It is also noticeable in the video that the guard slightly kicked the child.
This video quickly spread on Facebook, TikTok, and X, garnering various reactions against the security guard.
According to netizens, although it is the security guard’s job to enforce rules, especially regarding prohibited activities within the mall's vicinity, they believe it was unnecessary to escalate the situation or damage the child’s goods. Some people, however, argue that there are children who pretend to be students in order to gain sympathy and beg for money.
Meanwhile, on Thursday, January 16, 2025, the management of SM Megamall issued a statement expressing their sympathy for the child's experience with their employee.
“We regret and sympathize with the young girl who experienced an unfortunate incident outside our mall,” they said.
They also added that the security guard has been dismissed and will no longer be employed at any branch of the mall.
“We have called the attention of the security agency to conduct an immediate and thorough investigation. The Security Guard has been dismissed and will no longer be allowed to service any of our malls,” they explained.
Because of this, some netizens expressed that although the security guard made a mistake in how he handled the situation with the sampaguita vendor, he should not have been fired, especially if he was just doing his job.
— Noel Ed Richards, The Summit Express
