NJ Torres, a PR practitioner, decided to offer her hands to Yolanda victims who arrived at Villamor Airbase coming from typhoon-stricken areas on November 19. Unfortunately, she herself became a victim.
"We were there for the 7 p.m. slot, and we were in charge of the packing and distributing relief goods. Before the second batch of about 200 'Yolanda' evacuees arrived, I noticed this guy lingering in our area," Torres said in an interview with Yahoo Philippines.
The man at the time was wearing a pink shirt. " And he was just standing there. He was not helping," Torres added.
Although irritated, Torres thought the man was a member of the relief operations team in charged of the food. He was probably tired that's why he wasn't helping.
“Hold on to your things; someone keeps looking here.” She still told her friends.
Then in just a minute or two of attending to the victims, her wallet and her Samsung Galaxy S4 were not in sight.
"In my wallet were P5,000 cash, my driver's licsence, my company and TIN IDs, credit and discount cards, and some pictures, " Torres said.
Torres and her friends suspected the man in pink was the one who stole her belongings.
And on November 21, two days after her thee-month old phone was stolen, her suspicion was confirmed. Thanks to an app called "Dropbox" who synced to her new handset the photos of the suspect doing a selfie.
"I was so mad because I went to Villamor to help survivors of "Yolanda," but then I became a victim myself" Torres said. "You're there for a good cause, and you wouldn't think people are going to steal your bags," she added.
She reported the incident to the police however, the police didn't know how Dropbox works.
And then she decided to let the world know through Facebook.
One commenter told her the man could possibly obtain a phone in Greenhills. But for Torres, that's just impossible.
"Sorry, but that's impossible because the first picture he took with my S4 was taken at about the same time I lost my phone. I'm 1,000 percent sure that he stole my belongings," Torres said. With all the media attention that this story is getting now, I'm sure he knows that he's already infamous because I have not received any new photos from him today,"
"If you're not really a thief, then be man enough to face me," Torres challenged the man.
"Sorry, but that's impossible because the first picture he took with my S4 was taken at about the same time I lost my phone. I'm 1,000 percent sure that he stole my belongings," Torres said. With all the media attention that this story is getting now, I'm sure he knows that he's already infamous because I have not received any new photos from him today,"
"If you're not really a thief, then be man enough to face me," Torres challenged the man.
