What: I was held up at the FX on my way back to work
Details:
Thirty minutes ago, I rode an FX taxi bound to MRT-Quezon Avenue station at the terminal in front of Robinson's Nova Mall, and I was one of the first passengers in that ride. Twenty minutes later, the ride is filled with passengers and the FX immediately left (which was quite odd, because FX taxis bound to MRT usually leave at 5:30AM on ordinary days, except for rush-hour Monday mornings). It also felt quite weird, because the last passenger who seated by the right doorway at the middle pushed the other passengers to the edge, including me who was seated at the same seat area, right behind the driver. For a moment, I felt like I was garment squeezed inside a hard luggage to fit in a bulky jacket.
By the time the taxi was at the stoplight area in Commonwealth Avenue (the area nearest to the Novaliches town proper), particularly at the road beside Casa Milan (it's a village), almost everyone has paid their fare to the driver. Before the taxi could even turn to the right towards Commonwealth Avenue itself, someone shouted, 'Walang kikilos ng masama, ilabas niyo mga cellphone niyo.' Next thing I knew, the one seated at the other end of the middle seat was holding a gun, which is, for me, a different kind of gun. Then he pointed it at the driver and said, 'Uzi 'to, 'wag kang kikilos ng masama. Idiretso mo lang, 'wag kang magha-hazard.' Then another man seated close to the back door was taking the cellphones of the other passengers seated there.
All of us were scrambling at our bags to take our cellphones and give it to the holduppers. I don't know what came into my mind, but I find myself disassembling my phone to take out the SIM card inside it before giving it away. Maybe because they (the holduppers) have not noticed me yet. Next thing I knew, the gun was pointed at me, saying, 'Cellphone mo!' Luckily, the SIM card was already out of the phone, and so I gave it out to the holdupper while saying, 'O, ayan.'
When the gun was pointed at me, I was able to see the gun up close for a few seconds (or maybe a split-second). There was fear, I tell you. After all, it was a gun, and he is about to pull the trigger if I do something wrong. But at the back of my mind, I thought that the gun looks quite weird. I mean, how many hand guns do you see with two holes? And sure, it is quite big for a hand gun, but you could tell at one look that it looks haphazardly assembled. So for me, it looks like a toy gun re-arranged to look like a real gun. And even when I searched for 'Uzi gun' at Google images a few minutes ago, it sure looks like those at the pictures shown but that gun still don't look like real for me.
The holduppers told the driver to stop by the waiting shed in front of a small school, and prominently a dark area in the road. Before getting off the taxi, the one holding the gun said, 'Walang lilingon. Umalis na kayo agad pagkababa namin.' Which we did.
It took a while and a little whining from other passengers who, like me, lost their possessions before one of them said, 'Mag-report tayo sa pulis.' However, it took us a while as well to locate the police station nearest to our area.
When we got to QCPD Station 5, we were entertained immediately by the police at the desk area. They asked us to relate what happened. But when we told them where the crime happened, some of them began to argue as to whether the area we were talking about is under their jurisdiction. Apparently, in terms of police jurisdiction, that area is divided between Station 4 and Station 5. The road bound to Philcoa and the areas near that is Station 4's territory. While the road bound to Novaliches town proper (including the road where we came from before turning right to Commonwealth) belongs to Station 5. But while they were arguing, I said, 'Hindi po ba puwedeng isulat muna yung details ng crime tapos i-turn over na lang yung report sa Station 4 (assuming that the police were right in saying that the area is Station 4's territory), doon na lang namin kunin yung report kung sakali?' One of the police said, 'Sige, pwede naman po.'
Before those police we were talking to could say another word, another policeman at the desk was holding another logbook (the long, blue one and not the wide, maroon-colored police blotter) and said, 'O, kunin ko muna mga pangalan niyo.' That, I tell you guys, was unexpected, for me. I'd like to think that he took the initiative to actually take out a logbook and ask for our names as well as the things stolen from us. Once I gave out my name to him, I continued talking to the other police and described further the place of the crime. When the one holding the logbook was through, the policeman I'm talking to retold to him the description of the place of the crime. When he (the one with the logbook) heard that the taxi was at Casa Milan and was about to turn right to Commonwealth when the suspects declared holdup, he said that it was indeed under their jurisdiction.
After the police assured us that we could get the required police report at office hours and they are continuously doing follow-ups to capture holduppers, we left the station, rode the FX and continued.
Yeah, I came late in the office, but I was able to fix things in my schedule so I could make up for the one-hour tardiness. And it was only in the office that I experienced trembling fits and eating ever few minutes. In other words, shock. Up until now.
And that's why I could not sleep tonight.
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