19 September, Jegs and I took our
lunch at this eatery in Lecheria, Calamba City, known as Lutong Pilipino ni Aling Ely.
They serve a variety of food, like lechon, various sea foods like ginataang
tilapia, sinigang na karpa, laing, bbq, and many more. We enjoyed eating there. From Aling Ely’s, we proceeded to SM Calamba
City, and then home.
At SM Calamba City, Jegs first got to
the car at the SM parking lot to find the door on the driver’s side open. Immediately, she said, she checked if her
laptop was still in the car’s back seat, and it was. How it got opened and thieves didn’t ransack
it was really beyond us. I also left my
laptop in the car it was there when Jegs got to it. Until now, we couldn’t explain why the car was
open and why our valuables had not been stolen before we got back.
Then at home, in the evening, when I
was preparing to go to bed I was shocked to find that my “card holder” which
contains my two credit cards and three ATM cards, as well as other cards and
important pieces of paper, was missing from my pant’s back pockets. I told myself that it probably fell off in
the car but didn’t bother to check as I was already sleepy.
The following morning, while preparing
to go to the office, I inspected the car and didn’t find my card holder. I told myself that it probably fell off from
my pockets on my chair in the office, so I wasn’t bothered at all. We had decided to take our breakfast at the
IRRI canteen and while on our way to it
Jegs was practically lecturing me on how to be careful with cards like
those in my card holder. Of course, she
had a very good point and I knew all of what she was telling me, and she meant
well.
After breakfast, I dropped Jegs off at
the IRRI Library then proceeded to the UPOU where I hold office. When I got to my office, I was stunned to
find that my cardholder wasn’t on my chair.
When I tried to reconstruct where I was the day before, it dawned on me
that my card holder must have fallen off from my pockets when we took our lunch
at Aling Ely’s. I thought that was
really the end of those cards.
Then I began doing what Jegs was
telling me to do. First, I informed our
UPOU’s Cash Division that I lost my ATM card to which account the university
deposits my salary. I was relieved when
I was told that they would do the necessary legwork with the bank. I went back to my office and retrieved my
credit card files. Then I called the
hotline of CitiBank. Rather quickly, the
guy I was talking to on the phone right away checked if there were some
transactions since yesterday afternoon and I was relieved to find that there
was none, so he proceeded to block off my account and report the loss of my
card. He informed me that I would get a
replacement card in three days.
Then I called the hotline of BPI, but
I couldn’t get through because I was calling from my office, through a PABX
service, not a PLDY direct line. I decided to personally go to the bank to
report my lost credit card and I was told that I really had to do the reporting
through the hotline. When I was told
that, I went back to UPOU and used the direct line in the Office of the
Chancellor to contact BPI. I was able to
transact my business and I’d be getting a replacement card in three day’s time.
I had decided to go personally to the
Land Bank to report the loss of my two other ATM cards issued by the Land Bank,
but before I could leave for the bank my cellphone rang. When I answered, a female voice on the other
end said, “may I speak with Dr. Librero?”
Immediately, it occurred to me that this was probably regarding my
cardholder that most likely fell off from my pockets when we had lunch at Aling
Ely’s the previous day. I.answered, “yes,
this is Dr. Librero speaking.” Then
the voice said, “this is from Aling Ely’s.
You left your cards here yesterday.”
I said, “yes, my cardholder fell from my pocket yesterday when we took
our lunch there. I’m coming over to pick
it up.”
I felt so relieved that my cards
didn’t fall into unscrupulous hands.
Through this entry in this blog, I wish to thank the staff of Aling
Ely’s for taking care of my cardholder, informing me about it, and returning it
to me. Indeed, we still have good people
around. Well, you can find some of them
at Lutong Pilipino ni Aling Ely. You find this place along the national
highway in Lecheria, Calamba City. Do
visit the place, you’ll like the food there.
And you can probably feel safe there, too.
Now that we’re into the “ber” months
which is a signal that we’re quickly heading to the Christmas Season, more
people are becoming active in various means of obtaining more money through
less scrupulous means. Let’s all be much
more careful.
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