Lawyers? Soldiers? Nah, they’re robbers

MANILA, Philippines – Robbers these days come in all sorts of professions – they can be “lawyers”, “soldiers”, you name it.

And if you’re lucky enough, there are generous thieves as well.

Danny Dela Peña, 56, said he had fallen victim to robbers five times since he became a cabbie almost three decades ago.

The latest happened in Mandaluyong in April.

But among his unforgettable encounters with armed thieves was when he was robbed by two “generous” men.

“They treated me to a fastfood before taking all my money,” Dela Peña told this reporter.

It was around 4 a.m., he vividly recalled, when he picked up the two men who were in their 30s, from a hospital along Aurora Boulevard in Quezon City.

Before driving them to a hotel in Quezon City, Dela Peña said the two requested to pass by a nearby fastfood chain to get a quick meal.

He said one of the passengers asked him to join them and even paid for his meal.

“I had no inkling they were robbers,” he said.

As they approached their destination, the two declared a hold-up and took his day’s earning of about P2,600. They seized his cab as well, which was found abandoned three days later.

Thieves, too, may appear elegant and respectable.

In one incident, Dela Peña said two passengers appeared like lawyers in their neatly ironed Barong Tagalog.

They even used legal jargon.

“The one sitting behind me was talking to his companion, and he said: ‘Hey buddy, tomorrow you need to handle our client’s case. Just talk to the parents. The one I’m handling now, the court will quash this case’,” the cabbie recalled them saying.

“So of course they gained my trust. They were lawyers,” Dela Pena said.

While traversing Marcos Highway, the “lawyers” declared a holdup.

There was an incident when Dela Peña was flagged down in Guadalupe, Makati by three men wearing military uniforms.

It was 4 a.m. and the three men asked him to bring them to Fort Bonifacio, headquarters of the military.

But when they reached their destination, they asked instead to be brought to another location.

“I knew there was something wrong already. So while driving I was praying. I told the Lord that if this was going to be my last day on earth, just take care of my children,” he said.

At the same time, though, Dela Peña said he was thinking of ways to get out of the situation by hitting another car to create a commotion. Unfortunately, there was no other car passing by at that time.

When they reached the Food Terminal Inc. in Taguig City, the passengers finally declared a holdup. The two seated at the back literally manhandled and sandwiched him while the third passenger took the driver seat and drove around until they reached Alabang.

It was almost 6 a.m. then when the robbers finally released him after taking his money and taxi, which was found abandoned days after.

In all five robbery incidents, Dela Pena said he chose not to resist or fight back.

Asked then why he still continued with his job, the cabbie said: “Well, you know, wherever you are, if it’s already your time, you can’t do anything about it.”

Besides, he said, from his income as taxi driver, he was able to send his three children to school. Two of them had finished college while the youngest is now in Grade 6.

Originally posted: 1:44 pm | Wednesday, October 1st, 2014