Excuse me for this long entry again. But it might save you from the trauma of being
victimized by ‘kawatan’ (term ng kapatid ko). Familiar din ako sa lugar na un;
nagtataka rin ako bakit walang nakatira dun sa parang BLISS housing sa may
Designers Depot. Eto pala ang dahilan. At may police station pa dun ha.
Anong ginagawa ng mga *&^*&^%^% pulis dun?

Forwarded email ito, compiling various accounts/experiences in that area.
Private or public vehicle man, tinatarget nila. Baka pati mga shuttle, subukan din
nilang ganyanin. Don’t even try calling 117, it’s useless.
Please always be alert, be vigilant, especially when you are in that area.
Always pray and lock your doors.

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For the general commuting public, maging driver ka man o hindi…. Ingat kayo when passing through south super highway cor quirino ave. On our way home from Makati, we took buendia then turn right to south superhighway, it was only 8pm and it was drizzling. we were cruising fine but it was a slow moving traffic. right after san andres st, there are these buildings which are modern version of home along the riles (near the designers depot), my wife screamed because somebody was trying to open the car from her side. sensing that it was locked he moved to the back door and tried to open it likewise, we were stocked in traffic and i was stunned that i could not think of anything to do but just look at him. so when finally the traffic moved he also moved away casually tucking the gun in his belly and staring at me as if saying you are lucky you locked your door. thank GOD my wife is so makulit in reminding me to lock the door evertime we go. kaya to all you people beware of that place. Actually you should be alert & be cautious when passing through south superhighway all the way to nagtahan.
Karla Vanessa M. Redor

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Three days ago my driver had an encounter in this area. After dropping me off at work, the driver was on the south bound lane of South Super Highway near the home along the riles housing (near Sunday Machine Works and Designer Depot). As he came to a full stopat the San Andres intersection stoplight, a man approached the car’s rear passenger side, grabbed the car’s antenna and broke it. The man remained beside the car, apparently waiting for the driver to get down and confront him. Fortunately, the driver remembered my dad’s warnings regarding these types of M.O.s and remained in the car. As the driver sped away, henoticed a group of men on the center island. It pays to be praning, Sara

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Yes, I have witnessed a similar incident, maybe about a month ago, and reported it immediately to Police 117. A young man tried to open the passenger door of the taxi in front of me. About three or four girls were inside the taxi at that time. Fortunately, the door was locked. I pass this route coming from Malacanang every night. Fortunately for me too, my caris heavily tinted so I am not easy prey. I shall call 117 again. I suggest you do the same. Although I don’t know if that would really help. Atty. Dara C. Acusar Assistant Secretary Office of the Chief Presidential Legal Counsel

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A similar incident happened to me along Quirino Avenue somewhere between the Flying V gas station and Iglesia ni Kristo. 3 men approached my car IN BROAD DAYLIGHT! and SLOW TRAFFIC! and tried to open the back doors. Bumusina ako ng tuloy tuloy to BR ward them off. It’s scary ‘coz that area has no patrolling policemen. When they failed to open my car, they tried the other cars naman. I don’t know kung may nabuksan sila. Then yesterday, while the PMAP rally was going on along Buendia cor. Ayala, as I was about to cross that intersection, two of the rallyists tried to open my car doors again. Again in BROAD DAYLIGHT! WITH A POLICEMAN AROUND! Hay, what the world has come to. I suggest you lock up and make a lot of noise to at least rattle those thieves. Judy

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mga tsong this really happend last wednesday, September sept. 10…. and i hope u would take time in reading this…….. I came from makati and was driving along south super highway (osmena hiway) going towards manila area, nung dumating ako sa maliit na bridge before the DESIGNER DEPOT, ung maliit na bazaar of clothes (corner quirino ave and osmena hiway) , ifur coming from makati and u took bu endia or pablo ocampo, mauuna ung bridge before DESIGNER DEPOT ung nasa harap ko is a gold honda civic, all of a sudden may mga lumabas na around 6 or 7 guys who obviously look like squatters who reside along the riles and biglang tinambangan ung civic, pinagsisipa, pinagyug-yug, pinagkukutkot ung susian and they were successful in opening the doors, tapos nagulat na lang ako isa isa nilang nilabas ung mga gamit na nasa loob nung civic cds, bags, etc. im not sure kung ung driver is a girl or a boy , pero ung driver tinutukan ng kutsilyo… in short parang kinuyob ung civic, btw, ako and ung civic during that time(mga 830 – 9 pm) ay nasa right most ng lane… meaning right side lang namin ung lakaran ng tao….. after robbing… they immediately jump off the bridge and went away…..dami nakakita nun pero isang taxi driver lang ang tumigil to check ung condition ng driver…. nga pala, may oner na nasa harap ng katabi ng civic, sakay ay mga pulis, 2 lang ata yun,,, naka purple na uniform (manila police)….. . i dont know kung nakita nila yung incident na yun….pero sa tingin ko naman makikita nila yun… natakot lang dahil 2 lang sila eh and their rusty pistols…. just a friendly warning mga tsong….. kung mag-isa kayo and mejo kita kayo sa loob ng kotse nyo (kahit ano pa yang kotse nyo, luma or bago) try to avoid muna if possible ung osmena hiway at night or better yet try to have another route kasi mejo nagpaparamdam na naman ung mga modus operandi na tulad nun dahil pasko na ulet. if any of u guys have contact sa manila police, paki inform naman sila or just spread this news…. its for all us naman eh… peace!

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Always better safe than sorry… forewarned is forearmed… mga bro ingat kayo run, malapit lang ako nakatira dun kaya talagang totoo yung mga sinasabi rito, karamihan ng mga tarantado diyan nde mismo taga ilalim ng tulay (tapat ng sunday machine works) ginagawa lang nila taguan yun at takasan, mostly ng tulisan diyan mga taga-riles from Fabie, taga-Texas, taga-Mu񯺬 taga-Mataas na Lupa at mismo taga-riles (batangas line). uso rin ang agaw cellphone jan tsaka holdapan sa jeep lalo na sa riles ingat din kayo sa parking lot ng Designer’s Depot kse yung iba doon naghahanap ng biktima (kase talagang madilim dun!) yandin ang isa sa mga reason kung bakit walang nakatira dun sa mga housing project na malapit dun dun sa tawiran sa kabila ng designers depot (yung maraming bata at totoy na nakatambay at yung iba nagbebenta ng sampaguita) wag din kayo tatawid dun dahil puro rugby boys and girls ang nakaupo run! ang masakit, walang ginagawa yung police detachment diyan! sana makatulong ng konti.

It is only now that I was able to blog about what happened to me a couple of weeks back. I was still in shock, in denial. Still scared of what happened. But now, I think I have recovered — not fully, but I think I’m much better now.

I was on my way home on a Thursday night (December 13). It was around 7:50PM when I got to Kamias and was walking towards the house. I was about 20 steps away from the gate when a taxi cab drove to my right side, and the driver grabbed my bag. I was still holding on to my bag when he stepped on the gas. I fell, hit my knees, arms and my chin on the asphalt. A passing tricycle was able to follow the cab and get the plate #. After that, he lost the cab just before EDSA.

The next 30 minutes, I was on the phone, frantically calling Citibank, Smart and BDO regarding the incident and requesting that they block access to all my accounts. I called up my boyfriend, who tried to call my #, but the bastard who took my things finally figured out how to turn off my phone.

My tita and I reported the incident at the Anonas Police Station 9. Apparently, they had a bigger case (carnapping?) that evening, and the desk officer who attended to me wasn’t too, well, attentive. Anyway, after filing the police report, we went to St. Luke’s to get treatment for my wounds. I had X-rays just to make sure I didn’t have any fractures. I also got 2 anti tetanus shots, just in case.

Fast forward: We were able to get the name and address of the operator/owner of the cab. Were finally able to meet with him face to face at the precinct. At first, we wanted to push through with the case, even consulting with a lawyer on what steps to follow. But eventually, we got tired of it…I felt it was not worth it…with the police force not cooperating too much because it was considered a ‘petty crime’; the taxi operator reluctant to turn over the driver because he is afraid for his own safety…too many hassles.

Everyone, please be careful of this taxi:
Name: ETJ
Plate#: TYK-489
Color white

I lost everything. My phone was there, my wallet, money (around 10k), ID cards, ATM and credit cards, my Mario Kart arcade cards (tangina, ang hirap makakuha ng #1 dun a), my Timezone cards, my precious Japanese electronic dictionary (that I bought with my measly WW salary), house keys, my Minna no Nihongo 1, my lesson plans for school, my present for the company exchange gift (*&)*%$% mo, swerte mo, may libreng Body Shop ka pa, hayup ka!) — plus other bits of ’senti’ items I considered priceless. Stuff that Schatz gave me and kept with me all the time. Now they are all gone. Probably dumped in a yucky river somewhere.

(Some people even said I lost weight. How can I eat when I can’t even properly open my mouth?)

I lost everything, everything except Tsubaki, my Nintendo DS, whew! It was a blessing in disguise. Eversince I got my R4, I couldn’t get my hands on my own DS, because Schatz is playing with it, and even told me to leave it at his house (apparently, he wanted to do the daily Brain Age Training…). Thank God for hidden blessings. ^_^

Now, I think I am OK. I’m still scared of going out in public at night and on my own. I hug my things close to me, I walk fast, I am paranoid of any person who gets too near. But I’m moving on, my wounds are healing fast (thanks to Bactoban! Or whatever it’s called). I got a new cellphone# (I can’t get the old # — but that’s another story), with a phone that looks exactly the same, down to the GMask on the front cover. ^_^ I’m starting over with the lesson plans, and planning to get a nicer dictio too. In the meantime, I’m using Schatz’s Wordtank G50. Great dictio, but I kinda miss the stylus on my V80. Very handy when dealing with pesky Kanji. So I hope Santa will give me a belated Christmas present: Casio XD-GW9600. No animated Kanji, but it’s got a backlight and a stylus.

The main reason why I got over it quickly was because of the support of all the people around me. My titas, my sister, my parents, my boyfriend, Mommy (Schatz’s), my colleagues (Mayeen, bugbugin natin ha!), my friends, my teachers and students, the ever efficient IBM security force (di na talaga ako lilipat ng trabaho!)…even random strangers like my concerned neighbors, the friendly St. Luke’s ER people, the nice girl from Maxicare, the nurses from Intellicare, Atty. Pena. OK, sige na nga, pati na rin ung pulis Anonas, kahit mabagal kumilos.

These people are part of the countless blessings I’ve received since the incident…blessings that I continue to receive daily, because they were not taken from me by the baddies. That’s right, count my blessings instead of (black) sheep. Baddies like the taxi bastard are a reality in life, but so are good people (and vigilantes? Haha!).

I was blessed that night because the bastard didn’t have a gun with him. Blessed because the bastard didn’t run over me with his taxi. Blessed because I didn’t suffer any fractures, nor shattered any teeth nor accidentally bit my tongue when I hit the ground. Blessed because I happened to name my phone “Yukari” (Japanese for karma)? Harhar. Let’s see karma work its wonders now.

Mommy said, it is a lesson learned. I know it is. I realized that I had to look at it from a bigger perspective…not as a sole victim, but also someone who suffered an ‘inconvenience’. Schatz and I attended Mass together last Sunday, and aside from the regular hearing impaired people who attended the 9am service, we also saw a blind girl read the first reading using Braille. I was among these people, people who lost something more important than money or cellphone or an electronic dictionary — they lost their hearing, their sights, their ability to speak. And here I was, getting myself worried and depressed over material stuff. Kung baga, Cat, get over it soon. Mababawi rin naman yan e. Tama nga naman…^_^

I have a weird officemate who asked me why I was happy. Motmot, of course I was not happy. How can you be happy about it? But I chose not to cry my eyes out over something I cannot recover anymore. I chose to move on with my life, be happy again (but be more careful when going out in public). I chose not to be depressed anymore (“not to be scared anymore” is a different story)…as long as I have all of these people who support and love me, I know I will be OK. Sooner or later. I know I will recover fully. Sooner or later.