JOHNNY’S WALK TO FREEDOM

JOHNNY is back! Thanks for all your prayers which I am sure helped in his safe return home in order to tell the tale of his mysterious disappearance. And before I published this blog, I also promised JOHNNY that I would do so when I am sure of his safety- that is after he has left for the United States.

As suspected, the cab which JOHNNY hailed was the culprit, part of a syndicate which must have preyed on unsuspecting passengers. Based on JOHNNY’s recollection, he took a cab and sat in the passenger seat beside the driver and just minutes into the trip fell asleep. He suspects that the car freshener of the cab must have been laced with a chemical which induced his deep sleep and when he woke up, he was already in a dimly lighted room with barely anything inside, not even a wall clock to give away the time of the day or night. In fact, he did not have any idea how many hours or days he had been asleep or unconscious. He was likewise divested of his valuables including his cellphone, watch, wedding ring and wallet other than the two Canon SLRs, laptop and various lenses he brought with him. When he poised to come out of the room, a voice from the outside warned him not to as he would be hurt and that if he cooperates, that is not do anything stupid, he would be released in due time. There was likewise a specific instruction for him to close his eyes every time somebody walks into his room to deliver food rations and other provisions. In response, JOHNNY asked if he could be allowed to retrieve his rosary which was supposedly placed in the pocket of his laptop bag. Said request was granted. Immediately, JOHNNY repeatedly prayed the rosary and there were countless of times that he fell asleep in the process of doing such. Each time, he heard a knock on the door, that was the signal for him to close his eyes and moments after when he gains his vision, food and water were already in front of him. Twice, he was also served beer served on a big plastic mug. He did take whatever was served to him as he wanted body sustenance and he didn’t think anymore that he would be poisoned. In his mind, what’s the worse they can do to him, apart from the fact that his prayers have prepared him for the inevitable.

Then all of a sudden, he was awakened by a knock on the door which signaled him to close his eyes again. This time around, he realized that three people were inside the room based on the different voices that he heard. He was tied from the back, and blindfolded with a handkerchief on top of a masking tape. Before they left, the suspects told him that he need not worry anymore as he was going home, but still reminding him not to do anything stupid. The next thing he knew he was already hauled in a car and was told to slump on the floor. Based on his estimations, they drove for less than an hour before the suspects untied him, took him out of the vehicle and dropped him in the middle of the rain. When he was already certain that the group was away, he removed his blindfold, discovered that he was along Aguinaldo Highway, then took a ride back home.

He was away for fourteen days.

JOHNNY was lucky to be alive. He must have been kidnapped by people who were just intent on getting money from him or his family. The days when he was in captivity, the group must have surveyed his house or office and discovered that they would not be able to extract ransom money from his family. True he was working abroad and had expensive gadgets, but in reality, he was just a day’s worker who was fortunate to earn more than the average joe because he was too hardworking. After all, the group had carted away from him P 700,000.00 worth of gadgets other than the P 7,000.00 that was kept in his wallet. There was no reason why they should kill him. These guys are the “pera-pera lang” professional criminals.

Security awareness is a person’s distinct ability to assess the present conditions and the potential threats it may pose to one’s safety. When one is put in a scenario where he thinks the circumstances available are not favorable to him, how is he supposed to react? This is relatively easier compared to an instance when a person believes that the circumstances present are favorable to his safety, or when the person actually fails to even notice the existence of the circumstances, favorable or not.

In the first scenario, a person acting on instincts instantly collects his senses in order to come up with mechanisms that would defy the unfavorable should it happen. In most instances, the people who are capable of doing this are the ones with training and upbringing in the field of police work, law enforcement, security and the like. Before alighting from their vehicle, they would take glances left and right to survey the area of anything that may pose potential threats. These are the same people who would make sudden u-turns at a slightest suspicion that someone trails them or makes another round of the parking area before he proceeds to park his vehicle. When you go in a mall or just about any place and see those who insist on parking their vehicle on reverse (Combat Parking), these are the ones who are ready to move out anytime upon the slightest indication of danger or fight it out if need be. When they hail a cab, they write down the plate numbers, the color and type/make of the vehicle, or ask a security guard to logbook such for them. In most cases, they would text the information right away to the person waiting at his destination. They also do not sit beside the driver and adept at always maintaining a strategic and advantageous position over the other person in case the situation calls for it. Most of the time, they consider strangers as potential dangers to their lives and limbs, and sometimes prepares even against people they know. Call them “praning”, but yes they are.

Since these people are used to being in a dangerous situation, they tend to think faster and react swiftly when immersed in a compromising situation. However, it is no guarantee that people with this kind of skill are never to commit mistakes. They also fall prey to the caprices of sheer carelessness and over-confidence.

Meanwhile, the other types of person are those who are either all too trusting or simply unskilled in determining the existence of circumstances that may pose as potential threats to safety. They cross the streets and they are run over by a speeding bus. They meet a sweet talking con man and they part away their hard earned money. On the average, they get robbed of their Christmas bonuses twice in their lifetime. In summary, they are the ones who are easily targeted by the criminal minds because they are easily sold away by their body language which indicates the absence or lack of attention to their surroundings. At the very instance when they are victimized, they only react two ways: freeze in fear or become hysterical. Either way, they fail to act appropriately to defend themselves or at least feign away the danger or threat.

In the case of JOHNNY, he was the all too trusting type. When he boarded the cab, he had nothing else in mind but to go home to his lovely wife JENNY and their kids and that the driver was there to do the trick. Ironically, the driver really did the trick. JOHNNY was all too trusting that despite bringing with him two cameras and a laptop, he still took the passenger seat beside the driver instead of the spacious seat at the back. But you can’t blame him too. After all, he was so tired and he must have wanted the cool air-con so badly to ease his fatigue. He was also not used to taking public transport for they had an old 1998 Honda Civic which was not available at the time he went on a meeting. In other words, he did not know the mechanics of riding a cab and the safety precautions that go with it.

But JOHNNY more than made up his misgivings in the cab by the time he was conscious in the place he was held captive. He was relaxed and calm, had presence of mind and did not play hero the way it is depicted in some action films. He was firm in his resolve to come home safe to his family that he did not mind being pitiful when he followed the criminals’ instructions to the letter just so that they would not hurt him. At the time of his captivity, when he was counting every second to turn into minutes, and waiting for every minute to turn into hours and hours into days, he certainly learned the meaning of loneliness and fear combined, but instead he prayed, the best thing to do under the circumstances. The rescue from God came in days thereafter.

JOHNNY certainly learned his lesson and he commits to share his story to the people he would meet to serve as a lesson on security awareness. He said that he would not feel embarrassed about his experience if it would bring about knowledge to people who might be caught in the same situation in the future. He also extends his appreciation for all the people who prayed for him, in fact, he saw the comments you posed in the previous blog. For now, the search for the criminals continues. Let this story serve as warning to everyone.