There are other reasons people go underground than to hide from someone. Barangay officials in Tondo, Manila initially suspected that some men caught by a street CCTV camera going down and then emerging from a manhole on Herbosa Street on 18 and 21 February were members of the notorious “termite gang.”

The gang breaks into pawnshops by digging tunnels underneath and boring a hole through the floor or wall of a shop.

However, the village officials’ suspicion was disproved by the tools found in the manhole by the village watchmen who checked it. The tools included a hammer, a chain pulley, and copper wire.

As there were no tools for breaking into concrete, Barangay 83 chairman Eugenio Santiago surmised that the manhole trespassers were stealing the thick underground cables connected to a cannibalized PLDT accessory box on a sidewalk near the manhole, GMA 24 Oras reported.

The suspected cable thieves were not identified, and no one was arrested.

Meanwhile, Manila Police District officers arrested a man targeting maintenance holes in the Malate district of Manila.

The suspect, whose identity was withheld, was not going down manholes to steal underground cables. Instead, officials of Barangay 733 caught the suspect taking the metal cover off a manhole, so they turned him over to the cops.

The thief, who was caught with an improvised gun, admitted to police that he took the manhole cover to sell to a junk shop for P300 as he needed money, according to Unang Balita.

He was sued for stealing government property, which carries a punishment of up to 30 years imprisonment and a fine of up to P300,000.