Warning to all those who pass by in Katipunan

This is why it pays to read my blog right here. I'll tell you a story that happened to me earlier.

My blockmates and I were going back to Ateneo when I was approached by a person wearing a uniform introducing himself as a criminology student claiming that he is doing a survey in the Katipunan area. He asks me a couple of questions like my name and what college do I go to and then things like disturbances or events that occur in the Katipunan. He then introduces his adviser, who wears the same uniform and appears to be the same age. There is also another guy, another “surveyor” with another “surveyee”. We were asked to sit and talk with the adviser in the quaint karinderia across ministop, near the tricycle waiting area. So we talked, first about their apparent survey but then slowly shifting toward frat-related stuff. First he says they had a sister na “binastos” in the here in the Katipunan and they are looking for the ones who did it. He even offered us free drinks, and to win my trust, switched mine with his. I told him I can’t drink cuz I haven’t eaten lunch yet. He then tells us that we must meet their adviser, on the other side of the intersection near the LRT station. Before we go though, he tells us that we have to go with his buddy one by one, and so makes a checklist. He asks us things like do we belong to a frat, what valuables we have, cellfone model, amount of money in wallet, bracelets, etc. He told us to put all our valuables in our bags and leave it with him. Not at the same time mind you. I was to hold the other surveyee’s bag while he goes off and later, when he goes back he’ll hold mine for me. Fine, I said. He left his bag with me and went with the guy. A few minutes he comes back, and my turn comes. I hid my fone (not in my bag, it was still with me) left my wallet (in my bag, after taking the money out) but then I saw my Ipod. I said I couldn’t leave it and put it in my pocket. I left my bag with them and went with the other guy. After crossing the intersection he tells me that I really have to put all things I have in my pocket. We went back, but I didn’t put my Ipod in my bag anymore. I took my bag, told them I was late for class (which made them angry and even hit the tables) and boarded a tricycle.

Ok, so maybe nothing happened to me. But still you couldn’t ignore the fact that they asked me to leave all my valuables to a stranger and expect me to fully trust them that nothing will disappear when I return. It became obvious that they were up to something even as early as when they introduced me to their “adviser”

Now you ask, if it was that obvious, why did I let it get up to the part that I was already walking off and leaving my bag and all my valuables with a stranger? Well, because I was curious. I was playing along. I wanted to see how they do it. I was even willing to leave my wallet there and risk it being stolen (nothing important in it. I took out the money. Only thing they could get there are some prom pics). What I wasn’t willing to do is leave my Ipod, and when they were insisting I had to leave it with them I had to abandon my plan.



I went to the security office and told the same story. They told me that it was a new modus operandi. They even said I’m lucky I didn’t get drugged. They say that they put the drugs in their fingernails and discreetly sprinkle it over a drink. Scroll above and figure it out.

The moral of the story is:
1. be wary of strangers. Never let your guard down, even when they look like college students
2. Be careful when traveling alone.
3. Don’t be like Cid; when you sense something is wrong, find a way out quickly and don’t ride along just because your curious
4. And last, beware of the irony of when someone approaches you claiming to be criminology student doing a survey when he is actually a criminal ^^,

And yeah, now I have to worry every time I have to pass by Katipunan for the fear that they may still be there, for they can surely identify me because we had gotten close at the amount of time we spent chatting together. Shet!