Bambi Eloriaga-Amago
On a Facebook post dated October 19, UP (University of the Philippines) student Anne Guiang recounted her harrowing experience of getting held up while riding a bus, and the dismay she felt while reporting the incident to the police. Ms. Guiang said she and her fellow passengers were held up at gunpoint somewhere near Munoz, just past SM North Edsa. The thieves made off with her wallet and phone. The experience was frightening enough, but it seems witnessing firsthand the ineptitude and lack of resources of the policemen they approached to report the incident was an even greater source of dismay for her.
“Based from my hold-up experience,” begins her post,”I hope that the next government officials of our country will spend some effort in fixing the police department.” After the hold-uppers fled, their group was able to find on-duty policemen on the road. But to their dismay, they found out that the cops didn’t have any cellphone load to make calls. Worse, they didn’t have any pens nor paper to write down details of the incident. She and other passengers had to lend pens and papers to the cops, just so they could write down their report.
“At higit sa lahat, hindi nila kilala ang isa’t isa and kung saan ang mga police station that is near the place where the incident was declared. Tinatanong ko yung mga police, kung saan kami pupunta para naman alam ng mga magulang ko kung nasaan na ako. Pero hindi daw nila alam, doon ko na lang daw itanong sa police station yung address.” (Most of all, the policemen didn’t even know each other, nor where the exact police station where the incident should be declared. I asked them where we were headed, so I could at least tell my parents where I was, but they didn’t know. Instead, they just told me to ask the police at the station for the exact address.)
She further recounts an even bigger disappointment greeted her at the station. “I thought that riding the bus will be my only fear after the incident, but when I arrived at the police station to write my statement for the blotter report, natakot ako at nanghinayang pa lalo sa mga police. (I got even more scared and felt even more dismay at the police.)” She found that even at the station, they didn’t have any pens to write with. Nor did they seem to know how to exactly deal with the situation. Ms. Guiang was shocked to see the policemen arguing and pointing fingers at each other. “Tinanong ko sa sarili ko, police ba talaga itong mga ito?” (I asked myself, are these guys real policemen?)
The experience gave Ms. Guiang an insight on why so few people report crimes to the police. “Pinapabayaan na lang nila kasi like me, ayaw na nilang umasa sa wala. After writing my statement, umalis na ako kasi for sure matagal na naman akong maghihintay doon. Aasa lang na maibabalik pa samin yung mga bagay na nakuha samin.” (I think they just let the incident pass, because like me, they don’t want to have false hopes. After writing my statement down, I just left, I knew I’d be in for a long wait otherwise, hoping to get back all the stuff taken from us.) She thinks that the bus company should be held accountable as well. Apparently, the bus manager merely told them to report the incident to the police. Compensation for their loss was not mentioned, nor were they promised any help in setting up an investigation. She ends her post with a few words of advice. “From this experience, don’t ride a bus pag konti lang ang passengers (if the passengers are few.) Choose a safe bus. Always be alert and don’t panic. Always have a presence of mind. Iba na po talaga ang mga tao ngayon lalo na ang mga kabataan tulad ng nanghold-up sa amin. (There’s really no telling with people nowadays, even the youth, like those who robbed us.) So mag-ingat po tayo. (So let’s all take care.)”
