Of all the scary and dangerous situations I’ve encountered as a commuter, this was so far, and hopefully the last, scariest situation I’ve been in. That evening in February 2004 started well enough. I met my friend Kate, yes the same Kate from Davao, at her hotel in the New Renaissance World to grab dinner at Greenbelt. (I’m starting to wonder if these were just coincidences…hehehe..just kidding Kate 
) She was in town for a Conference. She treated me to dinner at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. Good thing it was a treat because I couldn’t have afforded our dinner. The meal was delicious, the serving was big, the atmospher was relaxed and the conversation fun and long. We finished at around 10:00pm and I accompanied her back to the lobby of her hotel where I took my leave.
I decided not to take a taxi because of all the emails I had been receiving at that time that warned about taking the taxi alone. My best bet would have been the MRT but unfortunately I already knew that I missed the last trip. So I started walking to Ayala Avenue to catch a bus to Crossing. It was quite a long walk and I was a little bit scared because the streets were empty and the stores closed. When I got to Ayala Avenue near Rustan’s I easily caught a bus bound for Crossing Ibabaw. I was barely seated and the bus was just about to climb the overpass to Edsa when there was a firecracker-like explosion and a voice saying, “Hold up ‘to. Walang kikilos o papasabugin ko tong bus.” (This is a hold up. Nobody move or I’ll blow up this bus.)
Waaahh! Those were one of the scariest words I’ve ever heard. When I looked to the front of the bus, there was a guy holding a gun in one hand and a hand grenade in the other. A very scary site indeed, I tell you. My heart was pounding so hard and my teeth chattering. I tried praying but I coudn’t seem to get the words right. Then I noticed that aside from the guy with a grenade, there were three other armed men with him. They shepherded the people at the back to occupy the seats in front then systematically began getting the cellphones and wallets of the passengers. When it was my turn, I quickly turned over my cellphone and wallet. I thought about putting my cellphone in the plastic bag I was holding but I was afraid of discovery and I’m a very bad liar. If the hold upper decided to question me, I’d knew I’d give myself away. The guy riffled through my wallet and took out my money then he gave me my wallet back then he moved on to the next person.
I was seated beside the window while we traversed the length of Edsa in silence. My heart slowed down a little but still beating faster than normal. I looked out the window and saw the people outside going about their business with no idea of what was happening to us in the bus. Our bus was just one of the many buses travelling Edsa. As I looked around the bus I noticed that the woman wearing a Mercury Drug uniform seated ahead of me on the other aisle had her whole bag checked twice. It turned out that she only had P20 with her and the hold uppers were not quite conviced. Fortunately, after thoroughly checking her bag out the second time, they were finally convinced. We passed by Crossing, my stop, and proceeded passed Megamall. I was afraid that we’d be very far away from my stop before the hold uppers would decide they were finished with us. I was very relieved when they got off at the foot of the Ortigas-Edsa overpass near Robinson’s Galleria. They made sure that none of us would get off with them. Once the holduppers were gone, the passengers began to talk. One male passenger was left shoeless because the holduppers took his rubbershoes while a female passenger retained her cellphone by hiding it in her seat. When we reached the bottom on the otherside of the overpass, some of us got off. While walking back to Robinson’s Galleria my co-passengers began talking to each other while I surreptiously looked through my wallet. Imagine my great surprise when I saw that I still had P400 left. My money was not hidden or anything but maybe it was because in the hold upper’s hurry he was not able to see the P400 among the receipts and small papers tucked inside my wallet. I was very greatful to be alive and to still have some money. One of my male co-passengers spotted the police in Galleria and he told us that he was going to report what happened to the police as he hurried toward them. We saw him talk to the police and got in the police jeep, presumably to look for the hold uppers. Another guy passenger also hurried away to get another ride. I was left walking alone with the Mercury woman. We talked about the incident. She told me that it was such a shame since the guy holding the grenade was quite goodlooking and looked clean. She noticed this because he sat beside her while he riffled through her bag the second time. Hahaha, I noticed it too… I told her that not all the money was taken even though I gave my wallet to the holdupper. She said that her P20 was not taken from her. When we reached Robinson’s, we rode the jeepney to De Castro together. She insisted on paying my fare even though the P20 was her last money. People can really surprise you with their generosity even after such a horrible ordeal. I got off at Rosario to catch another jeepney while she continued on.
I was able to go home safely and immediately called my phone company to temporarily disconnect my line. Once I’ve related my story to my mom I went online in Chikka and told Kate, my friend, that the bus I was riding was held up and that I would be cellphoneless for sometime. She surprised me because she replied through my chikka by laughing and telling me I was crazy. It was only after we saw each other again after a while that I learned that she thought I was just kidding her since it was still my cellphone number that appeared in her phone. This was because my chikka ID was also my cellphone number.
It was the first time that I experienced crime at such close quarters. I wouldn’t care to experience it again. Who would? It was quite a while before I was comfortable riding the bus again. A few days after the incident I rode another bus with my officemate. I was really on tenterhooks the whole time. I was waiting for somebody to get up and announce “This is a holdup.” Fortunately, it was a smooth ride even though it felt like eternity to me. Now, I’m happy to say that I’m over my trauma.
