There was a report two months ago of four consecutive house break-ins in our subdivision. I wanted to get the details to better protect ourselves so I personally went to the village security office. According to the chief security personnel, the house thieves struck between 2 am and 6 am. Taken were cellular phones. The four houses were all located on the same street near the perimeter wall. I suspected that the thieves probably ran away with valuables other than cellphones but the owners didn’t report what they’ve actually lost.
My friend, who lives in Ayala Alabang, lost one whole box of expensive jewelry which included a solid gold Rolex watch belonging to her husband, sets of gold and diamond earrings, rings, bracelets, chokers, etc. The theft happened between 2:30 pm to 5 pm.
They were very sure who took them— the utility guy married to their so-called trusted maid.
They were put in jail for only 24 hours but my friend and her husband decided not to pursue the case. I asked how much was the value of the pieces of jewelry that were stolen. She could not give an estimate because some were vintage pieces. But according to her, the gold Rolex alone was at least P1.5M to maybe P1.8M. She said “nalimas talaga.” She was still thankful that her 3-carat diamond set was kept somewhere else and wasn’t in that stolen box.
Nyke’s friend’s townhouse was broken into last month. Cellular phones and her shoulder bag with her wallet etc. were stolen.
Her husband was able to trace where her iPhone was. It was ringing and the GPS showed it was just behind their house. A la, their back neighbor, behind the townhouse’s perimeter scaled the wall and broke into their house. They called the barangay which radioed the policemen who within minutes surrounded the house.
Thieves were able to enter the condo unit of Wendy while she was in the office. They took all her jewelry and some small appliances. She suspected they were in cahoots with the condo security guards because how on earth were they able to enter the building without being noticed by the guards? She learned that she was not the only one victimized. There were reports of break-ins too on another floor.
Even if we think our place is secure, we must all be careful and be aware that someone could just sneak in without us noticing.
For your own protection and security, always lock your doors. When you are going abroad, lock your bathrooms and bedrooms. If you need the maids to clean, and you trust them, you may give them the key to the living room only but not to your private quarters.
Don’t keep your jewelry displayed on top of the tocador, dresser, bathroom counter where your maids can see them. Don’t tempt them to steal your bling blings.
A CCTV only works if you sit in front of the monitor 24/7 to watch it.
Although here in our place, the village gates are guarded aside from the roving guards including those who check the outside perimeter fences, there are still many houses that employ additional security guards.
Before, I couldn’t understand why our neighbors had to employ guards who would only open their gates. Then four years ago we got our own guards too. They added to our stress for the following reasons:
1. They quarrel with the maids, most especially with Antinola.
2. They make kalikot our things that were in the garage, storage rooms.
3. They crawl up to the dirty kitchen in the middle of the night to get food.
3. They behave badly when we were away.
4. They threaten the drivers for petty reasons like rubber shoes, drink, etc.
5. They swim in our pool naked.
6. They flirt with the maids, but not with Antinola.
7. They kick our dogs.
We are so far not in a hurry to assign guards here at our residence. We rely so far on the village security guards who are always visible. We also count on our dogs, Tyler, Stitch, Stella, Jack, Lucy, Hugo, plus the two new ones, Choco and Latte. These two were intended to be brought back to the farm but I stopped Edmund. Baka the caretakers would just neglect them. Plus they guard one of the access doors facing the street. With them around, no one would dare enter that zone. Even our drivers are afraid, “Mam, matapang, baka sakmalin ako”.
Having a lot of dogs is stressful too and is a very big responsibility. The dog food is expensive, more expensive than rice. Dogs are like humans, they get sick too and must be cared for. They also fight over our attention. They are sobrang mga seloso at selosa.
The biggest stress that they bring me is when they wouldn’t stop barking. Our neighbors complain, then the guards come, the more they bark. I think we have the most number of dogs in this village.
Aside from having attack and noisy dogs surround your house, invest in a fireproof safe to keep important documents such as land titles, irreplaceable videos, and photos, love letters from your husband or from your wife, drawings of your kids, diplomas, etc.
