Jeepney 1

I remember this incident back when I am still in college. We are heading home riding a jeep from our school in Sta.Mesa to Marikina. I think this was around 2000 or 2001 and at that time, the traffic along Marcos, Aurora, and Magsaysay Highway was horrible since LRT 2's groundwork was on its initial phase. 

The worst part of the traffic is concentrated at Katipunan. A massive crater and pillars upon pillars of concrete post are being pushed in onto the earth for foundation. Katipunan Station is a bit special since it is the only station that is built underground. 

Picture of a moon crater for reference

So going back to my story. We are heading home on a jeep and we are now in Cubao and the traffic is starting to crawl. Instead of going straight to the normal Aurora Blvd route, the driver then decided to go off course. So right pass Cubao, we took the 15th Ave then turn left to P.Tuazon. He drove straight then turn right at J.P Rizal (Labor Hospital).

The traffic has caught up and at this point, we are already going snail pace and then we reached Tom Castro St.. It is a very short uphill road and at the other end of it is Katipunan. 

So here we are at the bottom part of the road, we are at a stop and the movement of the vehicles is once every ten 5 minutes till the top. Suddenly, there was a commotion from the outside. We would be the first to see and hear this since we are situated at the very end of the jeepney where there are "Sabit"

Sabit

From what we heard, a local from that neighborhood saw one of the sabit looking at him and said "Ang sama mo makatingin ah" (transl: "Why are you staring". Next thing we heard at the sound of a slap. That was when we decided to take a peek outside to see what's happening. The local can not be more than 5'3 and is thin. I can assure you that he is definitely on something. His eyes are wide and there is something about his movement. He is very twitchy. 

He continues to slap the guy for another 2 or 3 times. There are several sabit but he was just focused on one. The others are just there doing nothing and minding their own business. 

The jeepney started to move at a fast pace. Once we've reached the midpoint and we have quite a distance between us and the local, we heard the guy that was slapped saying "Wag na wag kayong pupunta ng Markina, bubugbugin kita dun" (transl: "Don't you ever dare go to Marikina, I'll beat you up"). He may have done this to save face but this would have a serious drawback 

The next scene was straight out of a slapstick skit. The jeep came to a halt at the very top of the hill! It stopped right before it can left turn on Katipunan. We can see the panic of the guy. We can also see the local signaling to a couple of his friend to go with him and is now running towards us. 

The guy did nothing. He stayed there and he did not even attempt to run. 

The local caught up and we heard him saying "Ano yung sinasabi mo kanina?" (transl: "What were you saying"). He continues to slap the guy. A couple of his friends are hawking the end of the jeepney to see if there is gonna be any movement from the inside or if anyone would be dumb enough to interfere. We heard him (local) saying "Gusto mong saksakin kita?" (transl: You want me to stab you?") which luckily, he never did. Aside from slap, he and his cohorts did a couple of punches in the midsection of the guy. He did try to fend the slaps and punches to an extent but he was also aware that by not letting it hit, he might be stabbed in the process. 

After a few tense minutes, we are off again speeding our way in Katipunan. One of the sabit is now trying to talk to the guy. He was asking why he(the guy) did not ask for help earlier. He said that he is carrying. Not sure though if that is a gun or a knife he's carrying, but it does not matter at his point. The guy is silent. He is no longer clinging at the end of the jeepney. He is now sitting at the end of the aisle not talking to anyone. He is just there till his stop. 

We got off at Marikina Bayan (Sto. Nino, right after the bridge, before the stoplight). We burst into laughter. For some weird reason, this was our go-to reaction after any bad situation we been on and there has been a lot in the years to come. We laugh not because the guy got slapped. It is because of his male bravado that his situation got worse than it should. We laugh because of this other guy who was supposed to be carrying but did not help at the time that this other dude needs it. Most importantly, we laugh because nobody got killed that day.

- fin