Viral ‘Sampaguita Girl’ legit student — Mandaluyong police

The Mandaluyong City Police on Friday revealed that the “sampaguita girl” who went viral on social media after being forcibly driven away by a security guard at a mall in Mandaluyong City is a bona fide student and not part of a syndicate.

According to Mandaluyong City Police chief P/Col. Mary Grace Madayag, the sampaguita vendor is an 18-year-old scholar of a private school — not a minor as stated in initial reports.

“The young girl is a real student,” Madayag said in a statement.

Madayag added that the girl — a resident of Quezon City — was selling sampaguita garlands to have extra income for her educational needs and to help her family whose house was recently demolished, as confirmed by barangay officials.

Circulating on social media, the video showed that the vendor, who was dressed in a school uniform, figured in an altercation with a security guard outside the mall.

The girl was seen sitting on the stairs outside the mall, but the security guard instructed her to leave.

A few moments later, the girl stood up, but the security guard grabbed her garlands of sampaguita and destroyed them. Angrily, the girl hit the security guard with the remaining flowers, and the guard retaliated physically by kicking her.

The management of the mall said it has dismissed the security guard due to the incident.

Meantime, the Philippine National Police Civil Security Group said an administrative investigation has been launched to look into the possible liabilities of the security guard and his security agency with regard to the matter.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development, on the other hand, has expressed readiness to provide psychosocial support and other aid to the girl.