As you can see in my Facebook status here, it was an unlucky Monday. I know I’ve been a victim of thievery several times before that I already consider it a form of TITHING 
Somehow, you never expect it to happen again to you and then bam! there goes another one. So that’s what happened to me last Monday in, of all places, the company parking lot. I was just a few steps to my car when a man in a motorcycle very casually grabbed my handbag away from me and sped off. I was at first speechless from shock, but managed to shout “please run after him!!” to nothingness. It was dark, and there were no roving guards. At least the ones who came responded very late It was an early Christmas for that snatcher, as he carted away with him an XXXXX amount of cash and three of my high-end gadgets.
This incident would have a bizarre turn as my officemate told me that she heard on TV how a motorcyle-riding man was apprehended in the same area early this morning, after he tried to snatch again the bag of another woman. And that he was a policeman! The Inquirer story is here.
So I did what I needed to do and go to the police station to identify him in a line-up. Fear not, he already has my vital documents and cellphone pictures in that bag he stole from me anyway. It was quite unnerving to see this Manila policeman being bunched up with accused thieves and rapists in that small room. Unnerving as well that the plate of the motorcycle they apprehended from him read “Manila’s Finest” . Hmm, Manila’s Finest….. “Snatcher?” Why would he be so stupid to do a crime with that sticker on?
The investigating officers were very encouraging as well , telling me there’s little hope that I can recover the stolen goodies. This early on? Wow. You could at least try, right?
Someone told me I’ve become another statistic, and it’s true. I have little faith of going through the motions of filing for the police blotter and being interviewed for a complaint that just goes through the archives of “unsolved cases.” But unlike what happened to me in the past, what’s different with this one is that there’s no more John Doe, but a (police)man properly arrested and identified. It will be in the courts tomorrow, and the motorcyle bandit will be appropriately slapped with “non-bailable” charges (hope so). I will try to cooperate with the courts to seek justice for my case, and his other “unnamed” victims.
There’s so many things going on in my mind, mostly about how things seem to be headed for the worst, in my chaotic comfort zone that’s the City of Manila. Things like, why couldn’t Mayor Lim light up that portion of Roxas Boulevard Service Road where so many crimes have occurred? Whatever happened to company-wide security bulletins, so that people can at least be warned and informed? I’ve talked to other managers and the same fate has befallen them, in that service road
It’s been a long day at the police station, and am tired.
I hope you’ll have justice.
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Take care, Annalyn!
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I hope the security in the country improves. It’s not good to live constantly scared or wary of other people. But somehow that can’t be helped if things like these happen all the time.
Let’s all keep our guards up.
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I know you have been victimized in the past as well – are you just unlucky? Perceived to be an easy target? Or Manila is just not a safe place for anybody to be? Manila policeman pa itong snatcher ngayon! Mabuti na lang nahuli. I hope they lock him up for good and throw the key away.
I am thankful that you were not hurt in any of the incidences that happened to you. Material things can be replaced…take care
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Hi Em. I hope the security of this country DOESN’T improve…at being thieves! IT already smacks of extreme irony that one of their ilk has been caught doing it. The symptom of a greater disease.
A combination of many factors, Bert but generally there’s been an upsurge in crime.Thieves have become more daring; as an example, you’d almost always ben afraid of riding FX taxicabs because chances are, it will be held up. I wonder where police visibility is, or those checkpoints.
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Pati ba phone mo nakuha? tawag ka sa office update mo contact details mo.
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Boss Art, done!
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ick. that is so wrong! did you get your bag back?
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It’s disheartening to know that the culprit behind the snatching is a policeman. It’s good that he was caught. Hope that he won’t be able to use his connections to get out of jail without serving his sentence.
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and I thought this place had a lot of crime….
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well what do you expect from an organisation where even the top brass do the same thing in another way
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Yun na nga Ares, nakakatakot. If some policemen are involved in petty crimes (not that what happened to me was petty, in a way), how else can we feel safe and secure?
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that’s bull*h!t
the people who are sworn to protect are thieves themselves! crap! i think the police department should overhaul and do some purging of so-called scundrels!!
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@ analyn
i suggest you take martial arts defense? maybe aikido? cheers
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Yeah, am thinking of getting some lessons. Or maybe, good ol’ pepper spray will do
P.S. Manila should take the example of Davao. Mukhang disciplined zone kayo!
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S – T – U – P – I – D!!!! Unfit to be a cop, overpowered by a lady and a middle-aged guy. Suck!
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i am wary of motorcyclists… sorry to make a sweeping generalization but after reading a number of stories of snatchers in motorcycles, one would distance himself or herself when a motorcyclist is close by.
and yes, get a mace, ajay. i always have one in my bag. haven’t used it yet. but just in case.
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Ngayon ko lang nabasa. Ingat lagi, Ajay.
Be vigilant. Yes, kahit puyat ka, and from work. These miscreants are everywhere these days.
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[...] The man who snatched my bag…. was a policeman! [...]
[...] October sa aking blog, sinulat ko ang nakakainis na nangyari sa akin. Naging biktima kasi ako ng bag snatching by a motorcyle-riding [...]
it seems that everyone of us gets a taste of this, especially the ever trusting people like sayyy… meeehh????? yup… everytime i buy something nice, sooner or later i become a victim… u only got your gadgets stolen. my car was carjacked – right in front of me!!!
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[...] magnet to bad elements. That, or it’s just the hassle of living in the city where even policemen steal for a living. That’s why it was quite a breath of fresh air when my cellphone, which I thought I had lost, [...]