Our experience last night at Robinsons Galleria. I was awake the whole night and got myself into writing this.

Taxi Hold up @ Robinsons Galleria
September 28
730 PM to 830 PM

It  is  so  hard for me to recollect my thoughts and put this into writing.
The  incident is still fresh in my mind and I haven’t got over the shock of the  most  horrible,  traumatic  experience in my whole life. Sleep at this early  hour  of  the morning seemed eluding my being. I decided to put this into writing to let everyone know to be extra careful in taking a taxi most especially at Ortigas, Robinsons Galleria.

Around 730PM my daughter and I, along with some friends left Jollibee, West Avenue  Branch  after attending the birthday celebration of the daughter of one  of  my  colleagues.  We  took the MRT from Trinoma towards Ortigas. My daughter  and I were already on our own as we alighted the train at Ortigas Station.  We  left  the  station  and  traverse the path going to Robinsons Galleria.  Since  I  am with my daughter and we are quite tired of the long walk, I decided to take a taxi. We hailed a taxi, please take note of this, right in front of Robinsons Galleria that is facing Edsa, I haven’t got the plate  number  since  I  have  no inkling that a terrible thing is about to happen  to us. In my mind, all I wanted is to go home and take a rest since it  would  be  another  hectic week ahead of us. I told the taxi driver “Sa Rosario Pasig ho”. He turned right then along Ortigas, but just after a few minutes  he told us to sit at the left most portion of the back seat as the tire  at  the other side is not in a good condition. It happened so fast we were  just  shocked  and surprised when the driver suddenly stopped the car and  two  men  went  inside  the  taxi  and  begun  telling us “hwag kayong mag-ingay  kung  ayaw nyong masaktan. My daughter (who is only 6 years old) and  I  panicked and screamed as I was trying to unlock the door. One thing caught  my  attention  the car was dilapidated and there was no lock at the door!  So there was no way out but pray for God’s mercy. I tried calling my God please spare our lives! Save us from this very frightful situation. The man  sitting  next  to  the  driver  took my bag and began searching for my wallet  and  took the money which is around 2K to 3K. The man sitting at my right took my Sony Erricson cell phone and I requested if he could spare me my SIM card and he obliged.

While  the man right next to the driver was searching my bag, I pleaded and beg  them  to  release  us  saying “please maawa na kayo lalo na sa anak ko hindi  po  kami mayaman kunin nyo na lahat palabasin nyo lang kami dito.” I remember  we  went  around  Julia  Vargas passing Valle Verde “umiikot kami doon”  then  we passed along Medical City turning right towards North Edsa ..
While  passing  Edsa, that’s along Camp Aguinaldo the other man at my right asked  me  to remove my rings, my wedding ring and the plain band, that’s a gift  from  my husband. He also instructed me to remove my earrings, I told him “peke lang po ito” but he still took it. He also ask for the PIN number of  my  ATM  (PCI)  which  I  readily gave him but warned them that it is a payroll  account  and  no  amount  was left on that account and I told them again  “hindi po kami mayaman wala pong laman yan”.  Then the driver made a U  turn  that’s driving along Camp Crame and he stopped the car in front of an  establishment  which  I  didn’t  get  the  chance to take note coz what concerns  me  is  our safety and our escape from this terrifying situation.
The  man  at  my  right  gave me direction pointing to an alley between the business  establishments instructing me to go straight without looking back or else we will be gunfired as they have colleagues on convoy. They gave us Php  100 for our fare back home. The possessions that they took from me are my money, atm, sony ericsson cellphone, watch and my jewelries.

Right  at  this point I am still having cold feet. The incident is still in my  nerves.  Only  at  this  time I am experiencing the trauma of the whole incident.  Surprisingly  my  whole  demeanor  during  that time was I am in control  of  myself  and the situation we were facing against our abductors but  fear  was still at the back of my mind. Iniisip ko ang anak ko. That I should  be strong for her. Thank God no bladed weapons or guns were pointed on us we left physically unscathed. I thank God for giving us the chance to live again.

Jojo C. Bañez