MANILA, Philippines – Actress Melissa Mendez is yet undecided what to do with a househelp whom she has accused of stealing her car on Saturday, March 20.

.

Though she has had the suspect, identified as 17-year old Daniel Lungasa, detained at the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) station 6, Mendez is not sure if she wants to file charges against him.

“I really don’t know yet,” said she in a report on abscbnnews.com. “Kasi mabait naman ang bata. Naawa naman ako.”

According to Mendez, it was her daughter who tipped her of the incident.

“Kasi I was already sleeping. And then at around 2 a.m., my daughter woke me up kasi somebody called up my cellphone,” said she.

On the other end of the line is friend Gloria Gatmaitan, asking for the whereabouts of Mendez' car.

“Sabi niya ‘Melissa, ‘yong kotse mo nasaan?’ So sabi ko nasa garahe. Alam ko nasa garahe lang talaga ang car ko. And then all of a sudden sabi niya i-check ko. Tapos when I went out sa garahe, wala na ang kotse ko," said she.

A frantic search led her to the house of the suspect where she eventually found the vehicle.

"I found out nga na ang kotse ko nasa lugar na nila [Lungasa], which is very far from my house. I found out na nadala na pala hanggang lugar nila ang car ko,” the actress related.

Mendez said she learned that the boy was trying to have the car fixed as the latter had wrecked it.

"Kaya nga I feel so dazed right now kasi parang hindi totoo. Ang dami dami ko nang problema. ‘Yong isang kotse ng anak ko pinapaayos ko rin. Tapos ito na naman," she said.

Mendez figured in headlines late last year after it was learned that she had resorted to selling various items including food, such as Siopao and Siomai, due to a dearth in acting assignments. Mendez didn't refute the allegation, maintaining--and rather proudly--that her newfound business allows her to earn almost the same as what she gets as an actress.