The
story has been circulating among friends and email networks since the
weekend. Hopefully, it reaches enough responsible authorities, and
citizens who care about changing our lives instead of just waiting for
things to change on their own.
My daughter, Vanessa, is a 1st yr CFAD (College of Fine Arts and Design) student in UST. There was a
parade, exhibits and other activities called CFAD week that ended last
Friday night November 22. After the festivities and the
usual hangout with her batchmates they went their separate ways taking
taxi cabs each at around 2am of Saturday, November 22.
Upon
reaching our house Vanessa paid the taxi driver with a P1,000 bill (her
savings), the only money left in her after spending her loose change
and bills during the said event. Trouble started from there on.
My
daughter saw the driver drop the P1,000 bill in his left side and
produced 3 - P20 bills apparently as change, an argument ensued. My
wife, Oyie, who was at the gate waiting for my daughter to come out of
the cab was puzzled why it was taking too long. She went
out and opened the passenger door and asked if there was something
wrong, and the driver proceeded to say that “ok na ho itong bayad ng
anak nyo na P60” showing the bills to her. My daughter was
pissed upon hearing this and said to her mom that the driver was
fooling her and that he doesn’t want to give the change for P1,000. Since,
our barangay office is just across our house, Oyie decided to seek the
help of the tanods only to find out that everyone was sleeping and took
time to get up.
The taxi then fled the scene upon seeing my wife go to the barangay, my daughter still inside the cab! Oyie immediately ran back into the house and woke me up and hysterically told me what happened. I
got into my car and gave chase but didn’t find any trace of the cab. I
went back picked up my wife who had her cellphone and received a text
msg from Vanessa that she was near Caltex across Lourdes Church . When we got there we saw her on the side of Retiro
St., after Apo St., her face, knees and clothes bloodied. We were both
hysterical upon seeing her like this. After a quick check on her
physical state and making sure she can stand up, I helped her up and
brought her back to the house.
In
between hysterical cries and sobs, she told us that the driver sped
away fuming and angry that my daughter discovered his evil intention
and threatened to hurt and kill her. While they were on Retiro, my daughter pleaded to the driver to let her get out and that he can keep her money. The driver was ranting and raving that he would kill her. This scared my daughter that she opened the door and tried to jump out of the moving cab. The
driver reached across and at the back and grabbed her by the hand while
half of her body was out already. The cab kept on moving while she was
running along with it and continued to wriggle her hand free from the
driver. The driver finally let go and she tumbled out
hitting her face on the pavement, scraping her hands and knees too.
There was a truck following behind that almost hit her!
We brought her to the hospital. She was injected with anti tetanus for her wounds. According
to the medical report, she had multiple lacerations on her chin that
required stitches. She had to be x-rayed for fractures on her face and
CT scanned for possible head trauma. She had broken toenails and traumatic injuries on her knees and cheeks.
One
of her batchmates was able to jot down the plate number and my wife
knows the name of the taxi which was KUL, sedan and white in color. She can identify the driver when she sees him again. I
have reported this to the police in Camp Karingal but they can not do
anything at the moment (tsk tsk) because they want my daughter to be
the cto at least do something that this will not happen to other children or other people for that matter. complainant. I said that she is sedated and anesthesized in the meantime I ask them
I will post the plate number as soon as we verify it to be that of the KUL taxi.
In the meantime, please please tell your children to be very very careful when riding cabs or other public conveyances. To bring extra bills or change for fare. Make notes of the name and plate number of the taxis they ride on. And keep extra load in cellphones to call in case of emergency.
Mon Cabigao
That moment, it's like I'm starstrucked. I couldn't think/answer properly to what he was asking. I was stuttering! *doh* He had to repeat most of what he said. *doh* -___- Whatta phail this Hana!
