When Criminals Attack

I just had some news this week about several stories from my co-workers about their close encounters with muggers and robbers.

A female colleague had a brush-up with men in the bus demanding her cell phone in a low voice. What happened was she was on a north-bound bus on EDSA when these men sat beside her. She was on her way to work and a little sleepy when she heard one of the men telling her "Ibigay mo na yan" in a low voice manner. Startled, she stood up and asked the man "Ano po yun manong?" which caught the attention of the other passengers and in turn made the group of the said men to alight the bus unexpectedly.

The second time she did not get lucky as she was 'sandwiched' in the three seat section by 2 men. The mode performed this time was distraction from the man on one side while the other one tries to get her wallet and phone. Unfortunately, even she was able to recognize what was happening and told the men to don't touch her wallet and cell phone; they were able to get her wallet. She was even smacked by one of the men on the head before alighting along the Magallanes interchange.

The third story I have heard was with Gepay, where the jeepney she rode along Rizal Avenue was held-up by group of men. Her bag was taken and she was even pointed with a gun. She has to jump from the moving vehicle fearing that he will shoot her. Good thing there was some people to help her after falling from the jeep.

There are more stories shared in our office as of this week. With these stories, it seems that robbery incidents are becoming rampant as the holiday season is nearing. I have made some pointers on how we can protect ourselves against this type of criminal elements of the society.

PRESENCE OF MIND

There's a difference from being alert and being paranoid. Either way it pays a lot if you are aware of what is happening around you. Sometimes trusting your instinct will help you save your belongings. If you see a man asking for assistance or telling you to look somewhere else especially if he tells you right away out of nowhere, it would be best to ignore them. There's a chance he is distracting you while one of their colleague is getting some time to nab your things.

CHOOSE WELL YOUR PUV's

One of the bad things about hold-up gang hitting jeepney passengers is that they have partnership with the driver. This way they can change the route to a less populated area and that's where they will declare hold-up. As much as possible avoid unlit jeepney, and do not occupy the last section of the buses especially if it is empty. Chances of being pick-pocketed or held-up on that section are high and asking for help will be futile.

DON'T FLASH YOUR GADGETS

You are likely increasing your chance to be a target from the bad elements if you keep using your phone in a public area. It's like honey to the bees and dog poop to the flies because you're attracting them. If somebody is calling you, answer it once you're in a secured place like inside the cab or bus. If it is really important the person on the other line will surely call you back or you can text them back once you're settled. You won't believe but I've seen a girl died when she can't wait to see who texted her. The problem was she was crossing in the middle of street and she did not notice a truck and it ran over her.

MULTIPLE POCKETS/STORAGE

Having at least 2 wallets or getting a spare one will provide a lot of help. This way if one wallet gets stolen, not all of your cash is stolen. You can also get those pocket sized card organizer to put all your cards away from your wallet. Your cash maybe taken together with your wallet but your ATM and credit cards will be spared. You should know how difficult it is to get replacement of these cards.

GEAR-UP

If you have some budget, you can buy pepper spray from security stores. I've noticed that every mall has at least one store selling these security gadgets. If you have little extra to spare, you may want to try those stun guns, retractable batons and I think there's a combination of both. I am not sure if you need to secure a permit carrying these things but I'm sure the stores selling them will know. Just an important thing to remember, make sure that you have the guts and training to use these thing to robbers because if not it might be used against you in turn.

GIVE UP

If all else fails upon encountering these type of people, don't play hero especially if you are outnumbered and if they have a weapon and you don't have. Just give to them what they want because your life is much more important than anything else unless you're suicidal.

You may also check other tips against criminals from a previous post here.
Image from Pugad Baboy XX.