‘Oh, Mr. Councilor, she said, is running for re-election and so desires that no big deal come out of the incident so she was pleading that I agree to settle.’
YESTERDAY was supposed to be a slow Sunday. I was supposed to have early lunch at Cafe Adriatico, attend mass, visit an orphanage to give away gifts, and spend the rest of my day in quiet meditation.
But nothing turned out as planned. Or as imagined.
You see, after waiting for the left turn light to turn green so I could turn left from SLEX/Osmena into Quirino Ave., I noticed two traffic aides waving their arms as if trying to alert someone or stop someone or something. Before I could find out what it was, I heard a bang as the rear left side of my Toyoto FJ was hit by what I thought was a grey Vios. I stopped for a while and looked behind me and saw the Vios speed away towards the Paco station area, with traffic aides running after it. Later on, as I parked my car on the side of the road after crossing the intersection, two aides in 100cc motorcycles tried to chase after the car. They told me to stay put so I did. It was around 10: 30 a.m.
Twenty minutes later they came back, apologetic. They weren’t able to nab the driver, whom they described as an intoxicated female, and who had previously hit two other cars which was their reason for trying to stop her. She had disappeared, they said, and I figured she must have turned right into Pedro Gil to disappear that fast. I explained that I was on my way to early lunch so since nothing came of the chase I would be on my way, and left a calling card just for their record. I also took a video of one of them as he related the incident.
A little over an hour later my phone rang. One of the traffic aides was telling me that one passenger of the car was with them; she had alighted from the car out of fear before it sped away. The car was owned by her Tita but it was a friend who was driving. I said I was in a meeting and would attend to them later.
Less than an hour passed and they called again. The driver was now in custody and was going to be brought to the Sta. Ana PNP station; could I follow? Of course, I said, and was there by 1 p.m.
There were three heavily made-up young women at the station. One was wearing an all-black outfit — long-sleeved aka Steve Jobs and black tight-fitting pants. She had piercings. Another was taller, and slimmer, wearing really short shorts and a black tight top with costume gold jewelry. She acted like the leader or the ate of the group. And the third looked like she was the youngest of the two, and seemed looking for cues from the other two on what to do.
Note: all of them were really pretty in their own right. I wanted to tell them that I thought they’d look prettier without all the make-up and the cologne but then this was neither the time nor place to do it. And maybe they had to look and smell that way.
The taller one, whom I’ll call Ate, looked at me as I entered the Sta. Ana station. “Is he the one?” she asked the cops. Then she extended her hand to me and said, “Sir, I’d like to apologize for what happened and guarantee that I will pay for everything just to settle this.” She also added, “I have a casa.”
Were you the driver? I asked her. No, she said, pointing to Ms. all black, but added that she was the owner. I looked at her and told her I didn’t need her money and only had my car serviced at Toyota, adding that I was there only to make sure that whoever was responsible for all these would be held accountable.
It was at this point that Ms. All Black stood up and said “Sir, I am really sorry for what happened.” I tried to stop her but All Black said, “Ako na magpapaliwanag, kaya ko ito.” She then sat next to me and told me her side of the story, accompanied by strong whiffs of whatever alcoholic beverages she had been consuming before the accident
To make a long story short, she had a councilor as a boyfriend — I’m a mistress, she said — and had apparently caught Mr. Councilor with someone else, causing her to flip. That’s the reason why she hit two cars along Quirino and then me and then hit four more somewhere within the Paco-Sta Ana area in the vicinity of Road 15 (?) before finally hitting the rear end of an Avanza, causing the car to finally come to a standstill, with a blowout of a tire to boot.
By sheer coincidence, there was a PNP unit in the area; hearing the commotion they rushed to the scene, were told the story by bystanders, and nabbed the driver.
Oh, Mr. Councilor, she said, is running for re-election and so desires that no big deal come out of the incident so she was pleading that I agree to settle.
I didn’t say a thing. While I was quiet, two other parties arrived — a husband and wife whose jeep they use for “pasada” that was damaged, and three young men, one of whom had a damaged Yamaha motorbike. To all of them, Ate had the same message, “I will take care of your expenses.”
What happened next will have to wait for Wednesday.
