Showing posts with label Warnings. Show all posts

SM mall shooting  

Posted by Job in , , , , ,

SM is currently in hot water for two shooting incidents. The first happened in SM North EDSA where a disgruntled wife shot her husband (who supposedly left her for another woman) then "accidentally" killed a security guard who attempted to stop her from taking her life. That news has barely subsided when another news of a shooting that occurred in an SM Mall surfaced in Twitter. This time, a 13-year old boy shot a 16-year old boy who was supposedly his lover. 


There is an evident theme in these crimes of passion and it seems like the media and the government are both putting the blame on the mall's lack of security. They could not be more wrong.

The issue is not about security. The issue is the emotional and mental state of our people. 

There was a time when the concept of destroying something so no one else can have it was a fiction exclusive. That statement comes off better in Tagalog, "Kung hindi kita mapapakinabangan, walang makikinabang sa iyo." 

Filipinos have always been an emotional lot. Unfortunately, this emotional side is coupled with a seemingly fanatical desire for token efforts. On December 30, 2000, Metro Manila was rocked by a series of near simultaneous bombings. That incident put national security in "high alert." The solution? We now have guards with a single drumstick in every imaginable entrance who poke at people's bags.

The population is fooled into a false sense of security by the sheer number of security guards everywhere. Foreigners are flabbergasted by the security presence and probably believe that security guard is the country's national profession. 

Seven years of "heightened security measures" later, an explosion occurred in Glorietta 2 of Ayala Center in Makati on October 19, 2007. Many believe this to be a bomb, but a series of "investigations" and probably the most impressive display of Crisis Management later had most believing the explosion was caused by an LPG tank.

And so the toothpick check proliferated. The population were supposed to feel safe and secure because each and everyone's belongings were poked by a stick before entering the premises. Because that's just how we roll. Token security is still security, not to mention dirt cheap. 

The problem is not with mall security. The real problem is that criminals and disgruntled lovers/murderers are confident of the ineptitude of our police force. Everyone knows that the friendly neighborhood cops will never arrive to prevent or stop any crime from happening. There is no 911. 

This was proven on August 23, 2010, when a single disgruntled policeman was able to hostage a busload of foreign tourists for an entire day. Police were unable to control the situation and the media jumped in to exploit the scoop. Incompetence killed six people that day.

With two very fresh shooting incidents, we can now expect the most heightened security imaginable. Maybe guards will now have two chopsticks to inspect our belongings. 
   
  

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Thieves in Restaurants  

Posted by Job in

We had dinner at Gerry's and we were confident that we were safe. We were wrong.

The group of ordinary-looking twenty-somethings were apparently thieves. The guy reached and took Nini's bag. Right under our noses and we didn't even notice.

The guard we reported to mentioned another recent similar case. An incident in Gloria Maris where another patron's whole bag was stolen. Like us, the victim probably didn't think there would be that kind of people in that kind of place.

All we have now is a name. The group in the table behind us paid by credit card. It was charged to a certain Nicole Durene Cu. If NBI would bother to look, it's possible that we find out if this Nicole Durene Cu frequents various restaurants with her certain group of "friends." That's if anyone would bother.

Let this be a warning to everyone. No place is safe. This thing right here is an organized crime. We made the mistake of being careless just because we were inside the restaurant. And just because the group in that table looked like ordinary colleagues who went out for a meal.

It's depressing how low our society has sunk. That there are people who put their effort on doing thieving and evil, when the same amount of effort could have been enough for a legitimate and productive cause.

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