Money hunt for views

By Herman M. Lagon

If you have not seen it yet, someone in your circle has. A content creator drops hints on social media: there is money hidden somewhere in a public place. A crowd gathers. People run, search, collide, shout, laugh, and sometimes fall. Cameras are ready. The clip is edited tight—quick cuts, background music, a slow-motion grab of a few hundred pesos, then applause, relief, and a smiling creator saying, “At least may natulungan.” That is what many now call a “money hunt.” For those not immersed in online culture, it looks like a modern-day treasure game. For those who have watched closely, it feels more complicated. It is help, yes. It is also a performance built on need.

It is important to begin where fairness demands: people join because the need is real. Five hundred pesos matters, especially when fuel costs are rising. It can mean rice for the week, fare for work, load for school, a small pause in a long list of unpaid bills. No one with a clear view of daily life in this country should rush to judge participants. Survival has its own logic. It narrows options. It negotiates dignity in ways those with full refrigerators rarely have to consider. The problem is not the person running. The problem is the design of the run.

When help requires a scramble, something shifts. The camera does not just record generosity; it engineers tension. The scene becomes compelling because of urgency, not merely kindness. Viewers lean in because there is competition, risk, unpredictability. In that moment, the “beneficiary” becomes part of a production. The money is real, but so is the spectacle. And when spectacle is what makes the content work, the line between helping and using begins to blur.

This is where people start calling it poverty porn. The term sounds heavy, but it fits. It is not just about showing poverty—it is turning it into something people watch for entertainment. The struggle becomes the attraction.

The Ironic Spectator author and humanitarian communication scholar Lilie Chouliaraki warns that this kind of framing reduces real lives into scenes that trigger quick reactions, not real reflection. And when that happens often enough, we stop asking why—and just keep watching.

Safety is not a minor footnote. In these hunts, people run across uneven ground, crowded sidewalks, busy streets. They bump into each other. They trip. They argue. A few seconds of excitement can turn into injury. Add to that the afterlife of the video: faces captured, names guessed, stories invented in comment sections. A person becomes “that one who ran for ₱500,” a label that can linger long after the cash has been spent. The internet remembers faster than hunger forgets.

From the creator’s side, the intention may not be entirely hollow. Some genuinely want to give. Many do. But intention does not cancel structure. The setup distributes gains unevenly. Participants receive a one-time amount. The creator receives views, engagement, followers, and, eventually, revenue. Platforms convert attention into income. The audience provides the fuel. In this arrangement, generosity and branding travel together. The act of giving becomes content; content becomes currency.

The ethical line becomes clearer when “help” is followed by gambling ads. Trust is built first, then redirected toward chance and quick gain. It works because it speaks to the same hope. Research shows that gambling systems often rely on intermittent rewards and perceived near-wins, which can reinforce continued play, especially among vulnerable groups (Hing et al., 2015). What begins as generosity slowly turns into another way of earning from need.

There is a quieter lesson here, one familiar in teaching. People follow what is rewarded. Online, the same rule applies. If chaotic, high-stress moments get shared the most, they become the norm. Dignity fades into the background, replaced by what gets clicks. That is not just a media pattern. It reflects us.

To be clear, acknowledging these patterns does not require dismissing the help that occurs. A person who goes home with cash has been helped. That matters. But ethics asks a different question: what is required in return? If assistance depends on being filmed, competing publicly, risking embarrassment, or entering a chaotic setup, then the cost includes something we often fail to count—self-respect under pressure. Help can be real and still be uneasy. The presence of benefit does not erase the shape of the exchange.

There are ways to help that feel quieter, but more lasting. A scholarship that carries a student through years. A job that feeds a family beyond one day. Support that does not ask people to perform for it. Even stories can shift—toward effort, growth, and real change.

I remember a conversation years ago with my best friend from Ateneo de Iloilo, Primo Escobañez, who was then Director of Formation. He once told me, almost casually but with clarity that stayed: when you help, make sure the dignity of the person remains intact—and think of the kind of help that still matters long after the moment has passed.

Dignity should never be traded for help. Yet the system nudges both sides. Creators are also trying to keep up—pushing a little further each time, taking bigger risks, because that is what gets noticed. When attention transforms into income, it becomes evident that boundaries begin to blur. But the issue is not just about content. It is about the bigger picture—people trying to get by, gaps in education, and the everyday urgency of making ends meet. With everything moving faster online, what once felt unusual now feels normal—and that is where it becomes troubling.

A balanced view does not call for bans or easy outrage. It calls for standards. Do no harm, first—physically, psychologically, socially. Do not require humiliation as a condition for help. Do not engineer conflict for engagement. If filming is involved, secure informed consent that respects future consequences. If the goal is assistance, extend it beyond the moment—follow through with opportunities that change trajectories, not just afternoons. And if promotion follows, do not route vulnerable audiences toward products that profit from their risk.

Try removing the camera from the picture. Does the help still hold? If it does not, then it was never just about the person—it was also about the moment being captured. Real generosity does not need to be seen to matter. The best kind of help is quiet. No running, no crowd, no spectacle. Just a hand, a chance, a little more space to breathe. Not a moment of relief, but something that lasts.

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Doc H fondly describes himself as a “student of and for life” who, like many others, aspires to a life-giving and why-driven world grounded in social justice and the pursuit of happiness. His views do not necessarily reflect those of the institutions he is employed or connected with.