beware of makati taxi cabs

5 Feb 07

Got this in the mail from my dad. No details to verify the source or truthfulness of these incidents, but as always, better to be safe than sorry. Especially since these are places I take for granted as “safe”!

dear friends,

I just met with a friend yesterday who had just emerged from a 9-hour ordeal. he was kidnapped in the heart of the makati business district!

around noon the day before, he emerged from lpl towers on leviste st., salcedo village to go to a lunch meeting in pasong tamo. he decided not to take his car because parking in makati can be a hassle. talking on the phone, he hopped into the first available cab.

later he realized the cab was taking a route that was unusual. he called the driver’s attention to this but was ignored. the cab entered into urban road, the road by urban bank which is parallel to buendia. it stopped and three other men got in.

he tried to struggle but they stabbed his wrist which of course bled profusely. when he heard the sound of a gun being cocked, he stopped struggling and gave in to all their demands. they had him withdraw from all four bank accounts, took his cel phone and palm pilot and dropped him off in cavite somewhere near trece martires. the motorists ignored him as he tried to flag them down but he was finally able to make it back to makati somehow.

he reported the incident to the makati police and was told that it was the third such incident in the week. one happened to a student who got a cab in rockwell, the other to a citibank female executive who was taking a cab from paseo de roxas to glorietta but ended up in cavite. the cabs were stolen. i assume all targets were well-dressed (my friend was in coat and tie) and upwardly-mobile looking. where hapless expats and tourist used to be the victims of similar crimes, young executies and students are now the new targets. the please warn your friends to be careful about taxicabs especially in the makati district.

perhaps the best way to take a taxi would be in the queues where they hand you a piece of paper with all the taxi info and the ltfrb number, or to call for one from a reputable cab company such as golden or r e.

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  • the amateur misanthrope

    that IS scary. thanks for the tip.

  • the amateur misanthrope

    that IS scary. thanks for the tip.

  • leonne

    I never imagined a similar incident could have happened to my son, Nathan (not his real name). 23 and a call center agent, he was almost kidnapped friday night last week on his way to work. He took a cab in Pasay, told the driver his destination, and went on texting. Well-dressed, Nathan noticed that the driver wasnt wearing the regular white-polo-shirt cab driver’s uniform, and was wearing a cap(quite unusual). He went on texting, and after sometime noticed that they were taking a different route. He asked the driver about this, but the driver ignored him. Soon they were before a tall, huge, two-panelled yellow gate, and there was someone behind the gate, opening it. Since the taxi driver hadn’t called anyone to ask someone to open the gate,Nathan realized that they – he and the driver – were expected. As soon as the taxi was halfway through the gate, he saw a warehouse. Quickly he grasped the critical reality – in a split-second,without doubt – he was being “taken to a second place” – that is, he was being kidnapped. Without hesitation, he grabbed his bag and opened the taxi door. Luckily, he was positioned far from the driver, having sat at the back of the front passenger’s seat. The driver grabbed the scarf around his neck and reached only the tips, but having held hard he wouldnt let go. Nathan hit the driver’s hand with a book or something – I can’t recall what – and the driver let go. He jumped out of the taxi and ran as fast as could, without looking back, not knowing where he was and not knowing where to go. He had been running for an unknown period of time till he stopped, being tired and gasping for breath. SInce it was very late and there were no public vehicles, he hailed a cab that took him to work.

    We haven’t reported this to the police; he’s too traumatizedby the incident that he refuses to talk about it. Now either I call for taxi service from a reputable taxi company, or send him off personally so that I can take the taxi details myself. I can look at the driver’s face, take his taxi details, and give him that dont-you-ever-DARE-do-THAT-(again)-to-my-son-or-ELSE look, and ask him to give me his complete name and show me his ID. I guess this is the only way for now to make sure my son is safe. But the trauma, I guess, will stay for sometime, until, with much precaution, we all let time heal the wounds.

  • leonne

    I never imagined a similar incident could have happened to my son, Nathan (not his real name). 23 and a call center agent, he was almost kidnapped friday night last week on his way to work. He took a cab in Pasay, told the driver his destination, and went on texting. Well-dressed, Nathan noticed that the driver wasnt wearing the regular white-polo-shirt cab driver’s uniform, and was wearing a cap(quite unusual). He went on texting, and after sometime noticed that they were taking a different route. He asked the driver about this, but the driver ignored him. Soon they were before a tall, huge, two-panelled yellow gate, and there was someone behind the gate, opening it. Since the taxi driver hadn’t called anyone to ask someone to open the gate,Nathan realized that they – he and the driver – were expected. As soon as the taxi was halfway through the gate, he saw a warehouse. Quickly he grasped the critical reality – in a split-second,without doubt – he was being “taken to a second place” – that is, he was being kidnapped. Without hesitation, he grabbed his bag and opened the taxi door. Luckily, he was positioned far from the driver, having sat at the back of the front passenger’s seat. The driver grabbed the scarf around his neck and reached only the tips, but having held hard he wouldnt let go. Nathan hit the driver’s hand with a book or something – I can’t recall what – and the driver let go. He jumped out of the taxi and ran as fast as could, without looking back, not knowing where he was and not knowing where to go. He had been running for an unknown period of time till he stopped, being tired and gasping for breath. SInce it was very late and there were no public vehicles, he hailed a cab that took him to work.We haven’t reported this to the police; he’s too traumatizedby the incident that he refuses to talk about it. Now either I call for taxi service from a reputable taxi company, or send him off personally so that I can take the taxi details myself. I can look at the driver’s face, take his taxi details, and give him that dont-you-ever-DARE-do-THAT-(again)-to-my-son-or-ELSE look, and ask him to give me his complete name and show me his ID. I guess this is the only way for now to make sure my son is safe. But the trauma, I guess, will stay for sometime, until, with much precaution, we all let time heal the wounds.