Bogus beggars

Beggars are very much around asking for alms from passersby, but some have become more demanding this time.

Mendicants used to take any amount that people dropped into their coin cans. Today, however, some dictate how much they should be given, and they no longer want the 25-centavo or smaller coins.

With the high cost of living these days, the going rate for alms, at least five pesos, is quite reasonable.

Some beggars even demand more. Two men begging on Quezon Bridge in Manila asked a passing man for alms but were denied. At that instance, they pulled out knives and announced a holdup. Under threat of being stabbed, the helpless victim gave up his bag containing P3,000 in cash and his phone.

Fortunately, there were two Manila Police District officers on bicycles nearby, and they caught the begging thieves.

The police also recovered the victim's money and phone from suspects Jessie Delima and Alfredo Manimog, GMA News Feed reported.

In Pakistan, beggars go big time. Last weekend, police boarded a flight to Saudi Arabia at the Multan airport and removed eight hajj pilgrims flying to Mecca.

It turned out they were not really pilgrims but beggars in disguise. The Economic Times reported that they were arrested for attempting to travel to the Gulf Kingdom to beg there.

The modus operandi is well-known. Before the eight's arrest, 16 beggars posing as pilgrims, including a child and 11 women, were offloaded from a Saudi-bound plane at the same airport.

"They said they would beg there, and half of the raised amount would be handed over to a sub-agent," the Federal Investigation Agency of Pakistan said, according to TET.