N.B. – This article was written by my wife Joy as a warning to the public, especially those who use public transportation every day.
Outwitting Robbers
By Judith L. Balean-Arao
I happened to share a ride with an officemate who is also a fellow Bicolana this morning. We were on our way to the office. As we shared some details of our past activities, she told me a disturbing story that happened to her colleague.
It turns out that a colleague from her department was held up by two armed men inside an FX (an airconditioned public utility vehicle) at around 7:00 a.m. near Sto. Domingo Church in Quezon City. They got into the FX near EDSA (Epifanio delos Santos Avenue) and announced the hold-up near the church. They told the driver to turn right on the street before the church. After that, they ordered the passengers to open their bags and take out their wallets and mobile phones. These were the only items they took from the passengers before they got off the vehicle.
The colleague of the person I was talking to had just withdrawn a huge amount of money to pay for the tuition of her children, bills and other expenses. She had made it a point to put the money allotted for each bill in its respective envelope. Fortunately, she forgot to transfer her P6,000 shopping money from her coin purse to a bigger wallet. This bigger wallet where she puts in receipts, doctors’ prescriptions, notes/reminders, among others, was the one that the robbers took. She had a separate case for her cards that was also spared. While rushing from her house to get a ride to report for work, she had just kept her empty-battery mobile phone inside the pocket of her pants. And the phone was spared! She was indeed very lucky that day.
What can we learn from the story? One, hold-ups can happen any time of the day, even in the morning. Two, distribute your money so that it would be impossible for robbers to steal it from you. Three, put your mobile phones in silent mode or switch it off while commuting. Four, believe in your instinct. And five, be vigilant and always be wary of suspicious individuals with whom you are sharing a ride.
If your instinct tells you that something might be wrong, then by all means get off the vehicle or create a commotion to attract other people or the authorities.