That ubiquitous symbol of prosperity, the red envelope known as “ang pao” which is used for monetary gifts, has caused torment and misery to a driver, by his account.
The driver, tagged as “alias Totoy,” has lodged a complaint of illegal detention and torture at the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) against actress Rhian Ramos and beauty queens Michelle Dee and Samantha Panlilio. The three women are close friends.
Ramos headlines film and TV projects under GMA. Dee was crowned 2023 Miss Universe Philippines and landed among the top 10 in the Miss Universe pageant. Panlilio won the Binibining Pilipinas-Grand International title in 2021.
Panlilio also competed with Dee in the 2023 national pageant, and bagged a semifinal slot. In the 2025 elections she sought a seat in the House of Representatives as the second nominee of the Agimat party-list, but only its first nominee, Bryan Revilla, made the cut.
Dee had earlier charged Totoy with theft, for taking an ang pao containing sensitive images. Totoy admitted to the misdeed and returned the envelope, but with one of the supposed nine photographs missing.
Totoy was detained for three days before the Makati City Prosecutor’s Office dismissed the complaint against him, saying “there is no basis to effect the warrantless arrest of the respondent.”
The prosecutor added: “There is no basis to hold that the crime of theft had just been committed at the time the complainant confronted respondent.”
Driver’s account
This was how Totoy, speaking in Filipino, recounted to reporters the events that supposedly transpired between Jan. 17 and 18, including his alleged illegal detention and mauling, and his thwarted attempt to take his own life:
From filming, he and Ramos arrived at the actress’ unit on the 39th floor of a condominium complex in Makati City early on Jan. 17.
“When [actress and I] got home at 3 in the morning, as I put the stuff down, she suddenly grabbed me and mauled me inside…I was begging, and they were still beating me up,” he said.
He accused the actress’ bodyguards of physical assault: “I fell from the chair several times, but no matter how hard I begged for mercy I was nothing to them. Then when [Dee] was leaving for another place at around 6 in the morning on Jan. 17, their bodyguards continued to beat me up.”
“Mga kasama ko sa trabaho yan sila, hindi po sila naawa sa akin (We work together, but they did not show me any mercy),” he said.
Totoy said he decided to take his own life the next day, on Jan. 18, and jumped out the window from the 39th floor. But electrical cables got in his way, and he swung to the 25th floor.
He said he tried to go to the building’s lobby but Ramos’ bodyguards got hold of him and brought him back to her unit on the 39th floor, where Dee assaulted him.
Totoy said he went to the NBI to show the injuries he sustained as a result of the mauling he supposedly received from Ramos, Dee, Panlilio, and their bodyguards. He also sought help from the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption.
He also claimed that police officers beat him up during his three-day detention pending Dee’s complaint at the Makati City Prosecutor’s Office. He could not name the cops, but said he would recognize their faces.
Lawyer’s statement
Ramos and Dee, through their lawyer Maggie Abraham-Garduque, denied the driver’s claims and said they have not received a copy of the complaint he filed at the NBI.
“As far as our client is concerned, there is no incident of illegal detention as Mr. Baro was a resident of the condo, being the driver of Rhian,” Abraham-Garduque said in a statement, in an apparent reference to Totoy.
“The last incident of our clients with Mr. Baro was where [Dee] filed a criminal case for qualified theft against him which he admitted, and he even returned some of the items to Michelle. Thus, our clients cannot think of any reason for initiating this complaint but a leverage and vindictive suit to said qualified theft case,” the lawyer said.
Panlilio has not issued any statement on the driver’s complaint as of this writing. CS
