Injured	Killed
1	0

Date: 30 November 2013
Source: ABS CBN News

MANILA — A student from De La Salle University (DLSU) lost over P130,000 worth of cash and valuables to a man he mistakenly trusted after claiming to be a fellow Lasallian.

On a November 21 Facebook post which he titled “A Second Chance to Life,” 4th year law student Dino De Leon recalled his October 20 ordeal at the hands of a man he initially trusted but later turned out to be a robber.

De Leon said he had just attended a friend’s birthday party and was waiting for a taxi along Timog Avenue at around 1:30 a.m. when a man he believed to be between 23 to 25 years old approached him.

He said the man first asked him if he was from La Salle then introduced himself as JR, a fellow Lasallian from Lipa.

“Naliligaw ako at hihingi sana ako ng tulong sayo. May tinitirahan kami ng kapatid ko sa may New York Street. Alam mo ba kung paano pumunta doon galing dito?” De Leon recalled JR as saying.

But when he said yes and tried to give JR the directions, the latter only replied: “Bro, makikiusap sana ako, baka pwede mo ko drop doon, ako na lang magbabayad ng taxi. Inikot-ikot na kasi ako ng taxi kanina bago ako pumunta dito eh. Inaantay na rin ako ng kapatid ko.”

Without any suspicion in mind since JR was decent-looking and did not look threatening at all, De Leon quickly agreed. He added that he was also bigger than JR.

“Kayang-kaya ko siyang upakan kung sakali… I can take him whatever happens,” De Leon said in an interview with ABS-CBNnews.com.

Moreover, he said it was just his “natural inclination” to trust and help a fellow Lasallian. “Parang makikiliti ka eh,” he said.

During their taxi trip, De Leon said they even talked about the DLSU’s championship in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP). But he noted JR was texting from time to time during their conversation.

Upon arriving in New York Street, he said JR asked the taxi driver to stop in front of a pink building, the New York Apartelle. Waiting at a convenience store in front of the apartelle was JR’s supposed “brother.”

Since JR would already be reunited with his brother, De Leon thought he could finally go home. But unfortunately, the taxi driver refused to bring him to Taft Avenue, saying that it was too far.

Left with no choice, he got off the cab along with JR and met JR’s brother, who immediately offered him a drink supposedly as a sign of gratitude.

Not wanting to be rude, he promptly followed JR to a room located just near the entrance of the apartelle. “It didn’t feel unsafe since it was adjacent to the road itself,” he recalled.

But at that moment, De Leon admitted already feeling a little bit hesitant.

He said, “Why would somebody from my school go that place?” pertaining to the apartelle, which he described as “cheap” and “ang dumi-dumi.”

Robbed, beaten

After a few minutes inside the room with JR, the “brother” later entered along with two large men who he said had the built of bouncers.

“Big Guy 2: (pointing at the both of us) May ginagawa kayo no?!
Me: Ano? Anong sinasabi mo?!”

“I was even aggressive. I was not afraid because I thought that with JR and his brother and myself, we had a fighting chance against the two big men. While I tried to engage Big Guy 2, Big Guy 1 walked behind me. Sinakal ako with his arm from behind. I was not able to breathe, and I thought I was going to die. I was tapping his arm the entire time, and was trying to murmur the word ‘please,'” De Leon said.

De Leon then recalled seeing JR’s brother suddenly opening his bag. It was only at that moment that he finally realized that JR and his brother were actually cohorts of the two big men.

JR’s brother took out his laptop, brand new Samsung Note 3, wallet and three bank cards (Metro Bank and Banco de Oro ATM cards, and Citibank Visa).

As he was pleading to the suspects to just take all his money and spare his laptop which contained his thesis, he was punched on the abdomen by one of the big men.

Later on, JR’s brother got the blanket and took a packaging tape. “Both men tried to forcibly take my clothes off, and I vigorously and violently resisted with all my strength,” De Leon said.

With a little luck, the suspects failed to remove his clothes. However, one of the big men punched him again, which made his vision blurry and gave him a hard time breathing.

De Leon said shortly after that, he heard a knock on the door, after which he was immediately carried away to the toilet, with one of the suspects covering his mouth. Around 10 minutes later, JR’s brother knocked on the toilet door, signalling that they could already come out.

The two big men then started tying his feet and hands with the blanket and wrapping them with packaging tape.

“As they were finished tying both my feet and hands, I once again said with only anger in my heart and voice ‘Kunin niyo na lang lahat, wag lang laptop ko please andiyan thesis ko. Pagkatapos hindi na ako magsasalita at titigilan ko kayo dahil may mga kakilala ako!'” he recalled telling the suspects.

Seemingly angered by his “threats,” one of the big men again punched him once on the head and once on the abdomen, and said “Kunin mo na nga yung kutsilyo at nanggigigil na ako dito!”

At that time, De Leon started to cry. But he was immediately able to stop himself thinking that “if ever I will die, I do not want to die crying.”

The suspects then tied him to one of the bars of the bed before asking for the pin number of his Metro Bank ATM card, which contained P10,000. JR’s brother then went out of the room to withdraw the money. One of the big men also left the room.

The other big man, meanwhile, stayed with him and said, “Aantayin ko yung text na nakuha na yung pera sa ATM mo. Pagkatapos, pagkaalis ko, wag ka kakawala hanggang mga after 10 minutes. Kung hindi, papatayin kita.”

After only about two minutes, the man’s phone beeped. The man then proceeded to the door and again warned him to stay there for at least 10 minutes.

When De Leon was already sure that the suspects were all gone, he immediately tried to free himself. He said it took him around 30 minutes before he was able to untie himself.

He then grabbed his bag, went out and asked the first employee he saw to call the police. No one from the apartelle, however, helped him, with one even saying “Tatawag po ako ng Barangay! … Hindi po kami pwede dumeretso sa pulis!”

Later on upon checking his bag, he was able to confirm that he lost his mobile phone worth P35,000, Lenovo Yoga Laptop worth P59,500, gold watch worth P25,000 and cash worth P1,000, amounting to P120,500 plus the P10,000 in his ATM card.

“I don’t know why I did it, but I ran outside, trying to see if they were still in the area. They were not, and not a lot of people were outside as I remember it to be. Momentarily, the police came over. I told them that I was robbed, and brought them to the crime scene. The police officers asked me to come with them to the police station,” De Leon said.

Upon arriving at Police Station 10 in EDSA Kamuning, he proceeded to report his ordeal to the police. After about an hour, he asked the police to accompany him back to the apartelle to get whatever evidence he could.

However, the crime scene had already been cleaned by the apartelle staff. But upon seeing closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras inside, he immediately asked for a copy from the staff. He also checked the log book of the apartelle and saw that a certain “Eduard Mallo” was the one who booked and paid for their room.

With the packaging tapes also thrown away by the apartelle staff, De Leon rummaged through the garbage bags and eventually found the tapes and a surgical glove. He turned these over to the police.

Fight for justice

De Leon then looked at his wallet, which the robbers did not take with them, and found out that they had left him with P100. He boarded a bus and a jeepney to Taft Avenue. At 6:30 a.m., finally he was home.

“I was contemplating on what to do next. I was really initially hesitant to tell anyone, including my family. I was being irrational. I [don’t know], maybe it was a victim syndrome of some sort. I was blaming only myself, and that I probably deserved what happened for not being careful. I learned that fear and shock do that to you; you would be in a paralyzing and helpless state,” De Leon said.

But in an interview with ABS-CBNnews.com, De Leon said he has now chosen to share his experience to educate the public and prevent this from happening again.

“No one deserves to suffer the same ordeal that I have experienced,” he said, lamenting that he was “just trying to help” a fellow Lasallian.

He said now that he has a copy of the CCTV footage of the incident, he is hoping that the suspects will be immediately identified and caught.

He said he is also planning to file a civil case for damage and negligence against the New York Apartelle for letting the perpetrators go scot-free. He said the apartelle staff should not have let the suspects leave without them checking the room they have used.

While admitting that justice in the country is “slow” and “hassle,” De Leon said he will not stop fighting until he gets it.

After all, “ang failure of justice sa akin ay failure of justice din sa ating lahat,” De Leon said.