OMG!

I thought Makati is one secured place. So they said. And so I thought. I used to feel safer here than in any place in Metro Manila.

But maybe not now.

Just this morning, the Switch guy from Cebu, the same guy I went to work with last Monday, was mugged in one of the carparks on his way to the office. In broad daylight,with the security guards and their canine buddies prowling in the area. He was attacked by 2 men who was pretending to be lost and in dire need for some directions (modus operandi).

Earlier..I had peered through the window near the elevator as I waited for the lift when I saw the Switch guy already ambling in the walkway just across the hotel. That minute, I remembered wondering why he hasn’t sent me a message so we would go to the office together. By the time I got out of the hotel entrance, I guess I was only a little over 5 minutes behind him. Turning in a carpark, I really freaked out when I came unto him with a guard already applying first aid to his bleeding nose (a half inch cut at the left side of his nose) and swollen face (bruised lower lip and cheeks from the punches delivered by his attackers). Poor guy. But to think the he is a burly 6-footer who may weigh about 150kg. But that fact didn’t deter these bad people, who might have been lurking in the shadows of these cars, from pouncing and attempting to rob and hurt him. How much more for a girl of petite frame and who barely reached 5 feet?

I was not sure whether I should be grateful that he didn’t ask to walk with me to the office. Oh well, I was actually grateful (although I felt guilty thinking that way). What would have happened if we went to the office together? Would they attack me too? Or what if I had been few minutes ahead of him? That morning I would have gone earlier had I not been stalled in my room because by my friend’s sister…What if….? Endless what ifs and probabilities were running in my mind as I almost flew my way to the office that day. I really wished that at the end was not the Tower but my parent's house. I wanted my training to be over. I longed to go home. Back to my comfort zone. Back to the loving arms of my son.

After the training, we –me and the Switch guy- used the other route back to the hotel. But I couldn't help looking over my shoulders every second to check for some suspicious-looking individuals who may be creeping around and ready to pounce on unsuspecting victims! Ah yes, this is the Philippines after all. One cannot be too careful.