DAGHANG SALAMAT, 2016 | #THANKYOU, 2016!

Short and Simple – I love how AIRASIA followed the KISS (Keep It Short and Simple) principle in conceptualizing this holiday video. The less than 2-minute clip expressed how a simple thank you can really go a long way by making other people smile and make their days a bit lighter.

Like how a simple “thank you” note to the waiter who served the couple on their romantic dinner made him smile. I’m sure his job is not easy but that thank you definitely makes everything he does worthwhile. I also like the part where a daughter gives a gift to her father. Even at an early age, the child shows gratitude to her father through a simple gift and she knows the value of being grateful. The video, indeed, portrays how we can show gratitude in many ways.

As for me, I also have many things to be thankful for. This year has been a great year for me, and I have my husband, Mark, my family, and friends to thank for that. Let me tell you why.

To be honest, I have wanted to write this entry for a while but every single time I attempt to do so, I end up in tears. I wanted to write about the bad experience I had just recently and share it with others, but I never gathered enough strength to do so, until today.

It was the latter part of this year when I almost lost my life to two thieves who held me up at knife-point while I was on my last few days in Cebu City for work-related training. That was October 20, to be exact – a Thursday night. I was on my way home from dinner with my officemates and was literally a few meters away from the pension house I was staying when suddenly, two men riding a motorcycle drove in front of me. The person behind the driver went down, pushed me to the ground and demanded that I surrender all my things that I was carrying. While he was doing so, he held a knife that was pointing at my stomach. Oh I can still remember how shiny that knife was. The night was as dark as the souls of the robbers. But it was the knife that shone during that very moment.

“Ambi bag nimo miss! Ambi tanan!” (Give me your bag miss! Give me everything!) Those were the words that I remembered that the robber shouted at me. Then there I was, on the ground, shaking in fear begging him while I was looking at the knife on my stomach, “Kwaa lang tanan. Ayaw lang ko patya!” (Just get everything. Just please don’t kill me)

Everything happened so fast. The next thing I could remember, the robber went back to the motorcycle, drove off with his partner and took my Royal Blue Longchamp bag which I bought as a gift to myself, and the Rudy Project laptop bag that I won during last year’s Davao Bloggers Society Christmas party. Inside those bags were all of my money amounting to more than Php 10,000 (including the rent for my stay at the pension house), my two cellphones – an Asus Zenfone Selfie and an old LG phone – all my identification cards, my precious family photos, my training notes, my work shoes and the pasalubong that I bought earlier that day for my brother in law (which I placed inside the laptop bag).

the blue one - stolen by thieves

The Bag that was stolen, which I really saved up for

The Laptop bag that I won from last year's Davao Bloggers Society Christmas Party

I ran towards the pension house and told the caretaker everything. Then he noticed my left knee was bleeding as a result when the robber pushed me to the ground. While the female caretaker rushed to call the police in their landline, I borrowed the caretaker’s cellphone and called my husband, Mark. He was already half asleep when I called him. I told him everything. He was calm, probably because if he were being frantic like I was, it wouldn’t help ease the situation. He told me he will call my friend, Joanna, who I was with earlier that night, to accompany me to make a police report. Around 40 minutes later, Joanna arrived and I felt a lot better.

That night after reporting everything to the police station, Joanna let me spend the night at her house. Her parents welcomed me and even made a bed for us in their living room. Joanna was kind enough to let me borrow her phone to communicate with Mark. Mark asked me if I wanted him to fly in from Davao the next day. I told him NO because that would be very impractical and expensive. I’m not saying that we are poor and we don’t have money because that would be a lie. We are living a very blessed life. But it was the kuripot side of me that was talking, and I didn’t want any unnecessary expenses.

But do you know what my husband did? He booked a flight anyway. He booked the first flight out to Cebu. I couldn’t sleep that night because 1.) I was still traumatized by the incident and 2.) I wanted to hug my husband so bad. I needed the warmth of his hug and kisses to feel safe again. Going back to the incident – when the thief was pointing that knife on my stomach, the image that flashed on my mind was Mark. I begged the thief not to kill me not because I didn’t want to die, but because I couldn’t stand the thought of what my husband would be without me. I am not being boastful here nor am I saying that my husband loves me more than I love him. But this is how confident I am in saying how much my husband and I love each other - that if something bad happened to any one of us, the other half would definitely go berserk and be miserable. I didn’t want that to happen to him. Yes, those thoughts ran through my head that quick during that awful time. My husband arrived around 8 in the morning in Cebu, I felt safe again. Thank God he was stubborn because that moment, I knew that I really needed him. I cried when I hugged him because if things didn’t turn out the way it was, my husband would probably be in Cebu just to bring the body of his wife back home to Davao City.

When news spread about what happened, it was that time when I also realized that many were really concerned about me. From family, office mates, and even my Davao Bloggers Society family immediately showed their concern and support. I got all the heart-warming messages when I logged in my social media accounts after I bought a new phone the very next day with Mark. And those messages of love really helped me to get through the day.

You know what was the other thing that saved me? MY MOM. I remember my mom telling my sister and I incessantly while we were younger that if a person robs us, give everything away. Don’t even attempt on fighting back because tendency is that the person robbing us will definitely kill us just to get what he or she wants. And I’m glad that reminder of mom’s really stuck to me. That’s why I never hesitated to give everything away nor fought back.

Mother's advice is always good. Thank you for your advice, mom.

My parents didn’t know when I was coming home to Davao, but they were fully aware of the incident. And just like my husband, my mom and my dad were very calm when I spoke to them on the phone. When Mark and I surprised them two days later, it was my father who opened the gate. And for the first time in my life, I saw my dad cry. He cried like a child whose favorite toy was taken away from him by a bully. He never cried during my wedding, which I expected that he would. But it was this time that he did. And that very moment, I felt how much my father loved me - that even when I was already 27 and married, I was still Daddy’s little girl.

Forever a 1-800-call-daddykins

That incident, though very unfortunate, taught me FIVE (5) things which I am grateful for today.

1. A person, though nice as she may be, is no exception to the cruelties of the world – because there are a lot of bad people out there who don’t care if you’re nice or not. They just care about your wallet.
2. Never carry that “I live in super safe Davao” thought – I guess I was being too complacent because I have lived in Davao City my whole life and not once has anything bad ever happened to me. I should still be careful out there.
3. It pays to listen to your parents – like what I said about my mom’s reminder. If it weren’t for that, I might have “Kung Fu Panda’d” the behinds of those robbers and probably go back to Davao inside a box. Ugh, NOT a good idea.
4. I am loved by many – I used to think that people never cared about me and that I only have a few friends. But with what happened, I was wrong. And thank God for friends like Joanna and her family who never left my side after the incident and for welcoming me into their home.
5. I have the best husband ever – and I would always choose him over and over again. I must have done something right in my life to deserve a man like him. #HusbandGoals

Just like those people in AirAsia’s gratitude video, I am very thankful for numbers 3 – 5 above (my Husband, Mark, My family and friends). It is because of their love that I can say that today, upon writing of this blog, that I am healed.

Oh and you know what’s nice? I recently won a new phone from Asus Philippines and Davao Bloggers Society. A lot of people were saying that that was good karma because something came back despite being a victim of theft. Thank you Asus Philippines and Davao Bloggers Society.

blessed :)

About the things that I lost? Pffft *shrugs*. Those are just material things. I can still earn the money back, I can always buy new things and though it may be a hassle, I can still get new government identification cards. My life is more precious than those that I lost. Those are replaceable things. My life and the moments I am to spend with the ones I love is something that is worth more than anything else.

Aside from the season of gratitude, Christmas is also a season of forgiveness for me. Because I can honestly say that I have forgiven the two men who robbed me. For some, it would sound silly but yeah, I have already forgiven them. I can look them both straight in the eye and tell them, GINAPASAYLO NA NAKO MO (I ALREADY FORGIVE YOU). And I hope that someday, they will find it in their hearts to change and stop doing wrong things. Take it from me, it feels great to forgive because it lessens the feeling of heaviness in our hearts.

The holidays are indeed the perfect season to remind us that we have a lot to be thankful for, may these be the smallest or biggest of things. Let us all take time to reflect on our lives, to count our blessings, to learn how to forgive and value those that matter the most, no matter how busy we may be.

To my husband, Mark Andrew S. Angliongto - I know that I wasn't the only one who was affected by everything that happened. I know it was twice, thrice, multiple times harder for you to see me so traumatized, so scared, be depressed for so many days. But thank you, love. Thank you for going to Cebu even if I said NO. Thank you for tucking me at night and making sure I was sleeping well, for watching over me while I sleep even if it meant you did not get enough sleep yourself. I honestly cannot express how thankful I am to have a husband like you. Our relationship is not perfect, no relationship is. But ours is special. Thank you for your selfless love. I love you.

Daghang Salamat, 2016.