Kidnapping and survival

Being kidnapped is probably the most terrifying experience one will ever experience. Unfortunately, I became a kidnap victim myself 22 years ago during my UP Law days.

“SIGE, tumakbo ka na ng mabilis at huwag kang lilingon at baka barilin pa kita (Run, Run fast and don’t turn back or I’ll shoot you).” The words could be a part of a movie script, but these were in fact words of my abductors in the evening of August 23,1997, a Saturday. To me, words of freedom.

Freedom from the anxiety that any second I would be dumped dead in that highly secluded area somewhere in barangay Ugong, Valenzuela.

We just came from our moot court class in UP College of Law. I hitched with a friend as I planned to go to the wake of Lola Rosa Henson, the first Filpina comfort woman to come out in the open.

While our car was on halt somewhere in Quezon city, armed men swarmed our car.

I was pulled out from our car and dragged to their car. What made me feel helpless was the fact that my eyeglasses misted. Running for safety would have been difficult for me because I couldn’t really see anything.

In the car, one held me down with his hand pinning my head onto his lap.

I felt that we were on a circuitous route. I thought of jumping out but I realized that even before I could get up and open the door, the man who was holding me could shoot me. They also removed my eyeglasses.

Throughout the trip, I asked myself what I might have done for them to abduct me. Is this related to my work as a journalist while finishing my law studies?

Then they started asking me questions like what is the name of my Chinese-looking companion- “isang Intsik na may atraso sa amin (a Chinese who owes us).”

They continued to bombard me with threats. “Huwag kang magulo kung ayaw mong masalvage. Hindi ka namin gagalawin dahil di ikaw ang pakay namin. baka gusto mong patayin ka na rin namin (Don’t fret if you don’t want us to kill you. We won’t hurt you because we are not really after you).”

All throughout that trip, I felt some metal near my head, and I am sure that it was a gun.

One of the survival tips I read was that do not struggle while being confined and transported. Calm yourself mentally and concentrate on surviving. The best defense is passive cooperation. One may be terrified, but try to regain composure as soon as possible and to organize thoughts. Being able to behave rationally increases one’s chances for survival.

I just prayed hard. I prayed in the manner that I never prayed before. I lost count of how many Our Fathers and Hail Marys I prayed. The words even got mixed.

The place we were travelling to was getting darker and I imagined that we were entering what could be a “salvage area.” And I prayed harder. Maybe God was listening because I heard the driver said, “Sige, ibaba na iyan (Go on, get down).”

Then the moment of freedom. “Baba ka at huwag kang lilingon.” I indeed jumped off but still anxious that it was still a bluff, that they would nevertheless shoot me. The area was a farmland with some factories, a place suitable for “salvaging.”

There, I learned that the place is indeed an area where dead bodies were dumped. In fact, a few days earlier the body of an executive was found there.

Our names landed in the news for the next few days. I became the subject of media myself.

For safety reasons, I declined from surfacing to the media. It seemed that I myself became adrift from the world where I work with.

Freedom almost always brings a sense of elation and relief. However, adjusting back to the real world can be just as difficult as abruptly leaving.

The trauma kept me afloat. I can hear what people say but I can not understand them. I see figures and colors but it is as if I was not able to recognize them. My head felt too heavy that I had a hard time moving it. I can not talk properly as if my voice was somewhere else. I ordered all our doors to be locked.

And I even transferred to my cousins’ house just to assure me that no one will be able to follow me there.

A week passed and I went back to UP Law. I tried to think that everything would be normal.

A few days later, the same group that kidnapped me were killed in a shootout. They were identified as former cops or militarymen. Thus, that prompted me to still keep my silence.

From 1993 to 2003, the total incidents of “reported” kidnap cases have been estimated at 1,292, with victims totaling 2,330. That is approximately one kidnap victim every two days. Ransom paid totaled a staggering 1.602 billion pesos. Eventually, the Philippines became known as the “Kidnap Capital of Asia.”

On the other hand, kidnapping has been called a “growth industry,” the new cottage industry and a booming business.

Several cause-oriented groups point to the involvement of police enforcers as the reason why kidnapping has been very difficult to suppress.

That night of August 23, 1997 will indeed go down in history as an experience that could have changed my perception in life. At least I am still alive.