I had a gun pointed to my head last Thursday afternoon.
April 24, 2008, 12:30pm. I boarded an HM Liner bus near the Susana Heights Muntinlupa City on my way to work. I was the last person to board the bus that had approximately 40 passengers inside, and because the bus was almost full, I seated myself at the last three seater seats at the back of the bus.
Just as the bus was approaching the Alabang bridge along the South Super Expressway, I noticed a man in his late 30s causing commotion at the back of the bus. He was shouting stuff that I couldn’t make out because I was wearing earplugs at the time listening to music on my mobile phone. It was when he shouted at me while pointing a cocked up loaded gun to my skull that I realize that all the passengers of bus I was riding were being robbed.
I took off my earplugs and heard women and children crying while five other men were collecting the passenger’s valuables.
Because I was in a state of shock, the armed man initially thought I was just being defiant (not knowing I actually couldn’t hear what he was saying), he reiterated his intent by saying, “Alam mo ba kung ano itong hawak ko ha?!!!” (“Do you know what I am holding right now?”), referring to the cocked up gun he had in front of my face. When he looked away from me, I tried to sneak what I considered to be the most valuable thing I had with me inside my pants, my wedding ring. The man with the gun caught me and dragged me into the middle of the bus and seated me to a nurse who was already quietly panicking. A second man violently frisked me while cursing things at my face.
Truth be told, I was unbelievable calm. Not that I was too shocked to process what was happening, but because I was too distracted by the fact that all my valuables were taken from me, my bag that contained my office things (including my IBM laptop that had all my office files and recent pictures of my wife and kid), my wallet (that had my credit cards, health cards, drivers license, scuba certification card, memorable and priceless concert ticket stubs, pictures of my daughter, and cash), my 8 year old divers watch, my celphone (that had all my contacts), a silver engagement ring that Cathy and I bought back in college, and as previously mentioned my wedding ring.
My calmness apparently made me stick out among the passengers around me, which got me frisked a third time. At that point I was so frustrated with the idea of having to go into the trouble of replacing the cards they were stealing that I stupidly brushed off the sweaty arm of the man searching my pants for any valuable that I might have hidden. He looked at me, cursed and did nothing more. But the man with the gun saw that I did and I later found out from one of the passengers that he actually said, “Matigas yang isang yan, sampolan mo nga!” (That ones a toughie, make an example out of him!). I didn’t get hurt, but one passenger who was not seating calmly got hit at the back of his head while another old man was punched in the face for not cooperating.
As we were approaching the South Luzon Toll gate in Nichols, we were all advised not to try anything stupid like signal for help. As it turned out, there was a second armed man in front of the bus near the driver. Our bus took the E-Pass (the unmanned automatic toll exit) and continued its way north along EDSA.
The first three robbers, who had all of our stuff, got off the bus near the MMDA headquarters along EDSA. Our bus continued to move until we reached the Guadalupe area were the last three men threaten to blow our bus should we try anything like draw the curtains and follow them after they stepped out.
After they did manage to get off the bus, the driver drove the vehicle Northbound along EDSA. I got off my seat and approached the driver asking him what his plans were for all the victims. I told him to pull the vehicle over before we approached Crossing-Shaw Boulevard, but he insisted that we continue to move. We approached Camp Crame in EDSA where I figured we could report the incident, but still he insisted that we go to Kamias in Quezon City.
A man wearing an HM Liner company uniform told me to take my seat. I figured he was responsible being an employee of the bus liner for the passengers so I went back to my seat. People were already becoming restless at this point and started to ask questions on what we should all do. The bus employee then said that he was going to take us all back South to Pacita in San Laguna and we can all file our separate complaints about the incident that just happened.
That was unacceptable. I stood from my seat and demanded that we turn back, everybody else in the bus felt the same way. Finally, our bus made a U-turn under the Kamuning Flyover and stopped at a Quezon City Police Station along EDSA. As soon as the bus stopped, people flocked the police desk to tell the officer in charge of what happened.
After I gave my initial statement to the police, I borrowed a mobile phone and called Cathy in my best “its okay, I’m alright, don’t panic” voice.
We spent a good hour or so at the Quezon City Police Station before we were escorted to Makati City to file our official statements. Because the incident happened in the Makati area, it was the City of Makati’s jurisdiction.
I will not go into the details, but majority of the passengers felt that the bus driver, the conductor and the other bus liner employee that made me go back to my seat were in cahoots with the robbers. All their behaviors during the incident leaned to suggest that they were accessories to the high way robbery. I personally believe that they had a dozen opportunities to act against the robbery but just chose not to. In my opinion, they could have not taken the unmanned E-Pass toll exit and they could have stopped at the nearest police station instead of dragging us all the way to Quezon City. It was quite odd how none of them actually put up a fight to explain themselves to the police investigator; they said that they would all choose to remain silent about what happened.
The following day, me and five other victims of HM Bus Liner #258 highway robbery incident went back to the Makati Central Police Station to file our formal complaint against the 3 bus liner employees. As of this writing and to my knowledge, the three said bus employees are currently detained in Makati City.
I know I haven’t written in this blog for a long long time, but I badly needed an outlet. And though I try to block off the incident, it’s just a given that people will constantly ask me what happened and I have to relive the ordeal all over again as I narrate the details.
I am not fully traumatized by what happened to me, I mean, what happened won’t prevent me from ever taking the bus or listening to music while I commute. But I think what’s eating me right now is how my head is still filled up to this point by all the “what if’s”, all the “could have’s” and “should have’s” of the incident. The entire scenario keeps playing over and over in my head and I can’t help but consider the many outcomes of the ordeal have we tried to stop the robbery. I think it’s the feeling of helplessness right now that is really bothering me. I was screaming inside while I was inside the bus listening to the armed man as he went on blaming the president for his actions. It infuriated me that I almost wanted to talk back, but of course you don’t debate politics with brainless thugs, especially armed ones.
Cathy fetched me at the police station in Makati, she immediately kissed me when she saw me and asked for the nth time if if I've been hurt. It was almost 9pm and I just realized that I have had absolutely nothing in me but my morning coffee. We had dinner at Glorietta before going home. When Frances, my five year old daughter found out what happened to me, she sadly climbed up my lap, gave me a big tight hug and patted my back. She offered to open up her piggy bank so that I can buy back the stuff I lost and promised to tuck me in before I sleep.
Fortunately, there are far more priceless things in my life people can never steal away from me.
