I got off work at around 6:30pm yesterday and was able to ride an FX right away along Valero. I sat on the front beside the driver and it only took a few moments for the FX to get full. On my right was a woman (and possible accomplice) whom I noticed was texting heavily using her iPhone 4/4S (she also has an iPod Touch as I observed). She paid the driver and told him she’ll get off at Kalayaan though she didn’t specify exactly where along Kalayaan but still, this is acceptable and drivers usually just charge 20 pesos.
The traffic was very heavy and it took about 40 minutes to reach Kalayaan. The woman beside me suddenly told the driver to stop as she will get off (instead of telling the driver in advance that you’ll be getting off soon). She got off as well as another person on the middle part of the FX. Very few meters later, 2 men hailed the FX, one sat on the front beside me and the other in the middle which was just vacated. They both paid the driver and when asked where they’ll be getting off, they said “d’yan lang”. The man beside me was a little uneasy and kept on texting. Moments later, he got a call and only kept on saying “sige”, “oo”, or “o sige” on the phone (possibly talking to the woman previously beside me).
When we got past the Kalayaan market (this part of Kalayaan is the dimmest), he pulled his switchblade and told me some gibberish (it was tagalog, but I couldn’t understand because I was weighing my options) and the man on the middle part spoke even more gibberish too, though it was clear that they were declaring a robbery. Some parts I understood were they were telling the driver “hindi ka kasama, iderecho mo lang”. He took my phone and, not knowing what it is, my external harddisk as well (if you know me, then you know that these are the only 2 things I bring in the office…no bags/wallets/extra money whatsoever). I could live with it, but the worst came and he asked for my ring, too…my wedding ring. I told him I can’t give it to him so he threatened to stab me on the forehead and took the ring. He inspected my coin purse but didn’t find any money, so he chucked it beside me (yes, I only bring the exact amount of money I’ll spend for the workday – Php 180). He started checking all my other pockets but decided that my cables and my pen were not worth taking.
Note that they only robbed me – the one trapped in the front – and no one else. I don’t know if the accomplice in the middle has a weapon too, but I decided not to fight back in that cramped space and risk it. Besides, my wife and soon-to-be-born baby girl was waiting for me at home. Anyways, at this point, he told me to pretend nothing is happening or (again) he’ll stab me on the forehead. He told the driver to stop when we were near an overpass in Kalayaan and both of them fled.
More rant:
Not one, not even one policeman is stationed in Kalayaan. I don’t even think there’s a police station there (or if there was, it’s freaking useless). Anyways, I have already been in this situation twice, this instance being the third time. (I was able to fight off the robbers on my first two encounters, but due to the cramped FX space and uncertainty behind me, I was not able to fight back this time.) What was conclusive is that robbers always say “D’YAN LANG” when asked where they’ll get off. This is true for all 3 of my encounters with these low-life ba******, so be alert when someone says this.
If there’s unusual stuff happening inside a public utility vehicle, get off immediately where safe (like in a bright area or where there are lots of people).
Even more rant:
What I lost was my developer (and personal) phone. My sideline work as an app developer will suffer due to this incident. The phone doesn’t have a pattern lock or PIN so development would be convenient for me, but as a consequence they’ll have free access to whatever was inside my phone (assuming they were smart enough to use it).
Next is my external harddisk, where most of the favors I give you guys come from (OS installation and other software). Aside from that, some of my recent documents and pictures which I haven’t backed up yet were there too.
For the worst, they took my wedding ring! They’ll pay for this. Yes, aside from being a tech enthusiast, I am also a vigilante wannabe. In fact, I despise crime and corruption so much that I am willing to sacrifice just to kill off evil in this world.
I remember the guy beside me stupidly inspecting my phone when he took it (because there were no buttons). This could have been an opening for an attack, but oh well. I also regret that I was not able to take a cue when they said “d’yan lang” where normally I would have been alerted. I always get off whenever there are weird things happening inside a PUV, but I guess I was too busy thinking about dinner and my family this time. Binaha na nga, naholdap pa! Sana wag din nila gamitin yung docs and pictures na nasa harddisk ko, baka gamitin pa nila identity ko.
Additional suggestion: DON’T WEAR EAR PHONES OR LISTEN TO MUSIC WHILE IN A PUV. This will keep you alert on what’s happening around you.
Please forward to others so they may be warned about this incident. It seems that there were numerous reports about Kalayaan robberies lately. Stay safe guys!
