Real world Street Awareness

A typical busy street in Manila

A couple of weeks ago, in the streets of Manila, Pekiti-Tirsia has been tested. One of the members of the PTK Manila Pitbulls has been attacked with the M.O. of car jacking. After a night out, a Kali man was driving down the street when he accidentally bumped into a motorbike. As a concerned citizen, he went down to help the fallen motorist. Seeing that the person was a bit hurt, he immediately called traffic police to notify them of the accident that happened. Until immediately an unknown motorbike carrying three persons suddenly popped out of nowhere. The three persons mugged him throwing punches and kicks all around, when suddenly he was able to deploy his personal folder knife from his pocket stabbing the three guys. These three unknown men sped off upon obtaining the knife wound. Verification was made with the district police station but no reports of any stabbings were made that night.

This kind of M.O. is a typical scenario in the Philippines. People who appear frail and helpless could attack you right then and there just as they see you taking out your wallet to give alms or as you are talking to someone in your cell. There is no more safe place. Restaurant customers buying takeout food could even get mugged with the food they bought on the way to the parking space. Home invasions are quite common when the family is out of the house and the helpers are left or even at night when everyone is sound asleep. Women and children are raped by drug dependents when high or not given money to sustain their lifestyle. There is no more security.

Real world street awareness should always be present when treading unknown territories for the enemy attacks when least expected. The level of alertness might not always be high, but in order to survive, it helps to be always wary of the things going on around you.