5 pranksters who set fire to balloon vendor arrested

Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso on Monday presented 5 of 7 pranksters who were arrested for setting the balloons of a vendor on fire in Manila last week.

The balloon vendor Oliver Rosales sustained burns on his head and arms after a group of young people played a nasty prank on him by setting his balloons on fire in Pandacan, Manila.

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CCTV footage on Wednesday showed three young friends sitting beside the balloons at the side of the barangay hall of Baranggay 842.

Suddenly, they set the balloons on fire using a lighter without knowing that the vendor, Oliver Rosales, was sitting behind the balloons.

Because his balloons were made of plastic, they quickly melted into his arm and head.

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5 pranksters who set fire to balloon vendor arrested

Mayor Isko said the press briefing the 5 youths voluntarily surrendered to the authorities after he urged them to turn themselves in.

One of the suspects identified as Dranreb could face serious physical injury charges over the prank they played over Rosales. The rest of the suspects are minors.

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‘Yang joke, joke, joke niyo, maaari pala tayong makapaminsala… Gusto ko nga ‘pahawak din sa kanila ‘yung lobo, pero labag sa batas iyon,” Mayor Isko said.

(Your jokes, we can harm. I want them to hold the balloon, but it’s against the law.)

He also urged netizens not to take the law into their own hands by punishing the 7 youths.

“I understand talagang nakapanggigigil ang kagaguhan ng mga ito pero ‘wag niyo naman pagbuhatan ng kamay,” he said.

(I understand how infuriating their acts were, but we should not hurt them.)

One of the suspects said he did not know that their prank would cause injury. He thought the balloons would just explode.