Yesterday, December 23, at six in the evening, my girlfriend and I met in SM Megamall to prepare some things we would bring to a family friend in Cubao. A small family party is going to be had. We went to Goldilocks located at the third floor to buy a cake. From there, we proceed to bus stop for a ride going to Cubao. We purposely took the non-aircon bus so we could arrive quickly in our destination. Not only that non-aircon buses move faster than aircon buses, but non-aircon buses would also take the Ortigas flyover while aircon buses would pass by "Ortigas ilalim" causing delay to passengers in hurry (especially for the Christmas rush).
Onboard the bus, my girlfriend was seated at the window side, I was in the middle, and a fellow commuter near the aisle. Just as I always did when taking public transport such as jeepneys or buses, I locked my cellphone tucked in my waist with my right elbow. Just as I was about to pay for our fare, a man suddenly emerged from behind to distract our attention by pointing and asked me and my girlfriend to pick up something beneath us. In a split of second, I realized we're going to be the next victim of Laglag-barya gang. Laglag-barya gang's modus operandi is usually to put a coin down below and asked the favor of their prey to pick it up for them. Just as the unsuspecting victim obliged, they would right away strip him/her off of his/her valuable items. My realization was already way too late. In that split of second that I was distracted and my elbow was slightly opened in my right side, another man who was quicker than a dragster would shift gear got hold of my cellphone, stand up, and started to climb down from the moving bus. The scene was spontaneous. My girlfriend who noticed what had happened started to shout. I was also shouting at the snatcher, the one who got my cellphone. I thought of grabbing him but the accomplice who earlier had distracted our attention blocked my way. Two younger men stopped the bus and four of them simultaneously disembarked. My girlfriend Jovy shouted at me to run after those who took my cellphone away. Another guy shouted, "'Wag mo 'nang sundan. May panaksak 'yon," telling me those guys have bladed weapons. Another guy who I noticed is wearing almost the same branded polo and shoes that I got, asked me what had happened. They turned out to be accomplice. All six of them alighted from the bus.
You might ask how I reacted during the situation. At first, I thought of jumping and get over to the perpetrator who had my cellphone before they could climb down from the bus. But then in a flash, I realized it's not worth to be risking my life with cellphone only. I would only endanger myself but for sure will not get my cellphone back as there are "four" of them. (Initially, I thought there were only four of them before fellow passengers told me that the one who advised me about bladed weapon and the other one who briefly spoke with me are also collaborator to the crime.) Flashback went as far as remembering fellow photography enthusiast and seasoned mountaineer JL Bernardo (his spirit already at peace in heaven) who also lost his life due to phone theft.* I also realized if something horrific will happen to me at that instance, it will be known to people who should not know my relationship with Jovy that we're together. Basically, horizontal relationship are not allowed in the company we're working with. And the thought that if I'd be fatally harmed by those culprit, leaving my girlfriend behind in this physically world would be too unbearable to me. Right then and there, I didn't move further and just let go of those thieves.
Jovy, whom only at that time I found out to be strong, and apparently didn't foresee the ensuing danger, told me to run after those thieves. Well, I didn't move and when those six petty criminals were already out of sight and the bus started to move forward again, another fellow passenger told her, "Misis, pinapasundan mo pa sa asawa mo eh mas lalong mapanganib yon." That's only the time she realized how dangerous the situation was and she was grateful at that time I was still alive. "Cellphone lang 'yon," added the fellow passenger. She's right.
The right thing I did was to call up Sun Cellular hotline for the immediate blocking of my SIM. The loss is very very frustrating (and I just replaced another 2GB memory stick two weeks ago) but we still manage to arrive to the small family party and enjoy. I talked to them about what had happened (and my phone was supposed to be used to take pictures for the party) and I was told life is still vital over all material things. I was very much comforted.
Unlike the first incident of losing my cellphone where I was in a state of shock in a period of time, this time I wasn't. But I can't just believe myself such thing can happen to me again the second time around. While working in Antipolo, I traversed the treacherous Sumulong Highway during night time from Cubao to Antipolo but didn't encounter incident like that while robbery was so rampant then. I had been to Divisoria and witnessed a lot of similar incident that had happened to other people but such thing didn't occur to me. I survived Baclaran unscathed but was finally shamed down by a no-brainer thing carried out by small-time criminals in a short travel from SM Megamall to Cubao.
Sometime today, I'll go to Sun Cellular business center in SM North EDSA after publishing this post to get SIM replacement. While replacement charges only costs P150, getting another cellphone is not simple considering the line up of priorities. It will take a while before I'll get another handset.
That's my phone in the photo above - a Sony Ericsson K750i that I bought purposely for street photography and so I'd always have an accompanying camera wherever I go. SLR is too bulky to bring for daily snapshots. My mobile phone camera is gone but I still live (thanks God). If you want to read a story of the same title as this article, you may click here.
Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year to all of my readers out there...
Reference:
* http://dcsillada.multiply.com/journal/item/86
Gerogita Mall? 
