The Day My Phone Was Stolen... 
And Got It Back

I have been telling my friends about how I would have mini heart attack whenever I don't feel my precious iPhone in my pocket. It happened just like that in the colorful but crowded Pahiyas Festival in Lucban, Quezon. Before finishing the second round of touring the kiping-adorned neighborhood, I slid my hand in my pocket to get my phone and it wasn't there anymore. I knew right away that some thief got it.

The feeling of losing is terrible. I knew I did not put it anywhere but my pocket but I still desperately searched for it in my bag. I lost myself for a few seconds before I thought of ringing my lost phone. It was about to become a horrible day but as my companions said, I was lucky. When I called my number, it was answered by a policeman telling me to claim it and that some lady in the crowd managed to stealthily snatch it. Hands down, she was a pro. I can't imagine how she got it in my deep pocket because I honestly didn't notice that I have been robbed already.

When I arrived in the police station, the police pointed me to the pregnant woman who stole my phone. She looked young, maybe in her early 20's. I think she looked pitiful but I'm not sure if she was remorseful. The policeman explained that they have intelligence unit deployed in the area to outwit the thieves who were also scattered during the fiesta. I thanked and commended the police in civilian clothes who caught the pregnant thief. I can only hope that we will always get the same excellent police enforcement. Before I left the station, several tourists arrived to also report their lost phone. Some, their lost wallet. I am just grateful that I went their to claim what was stolen to me.

Looking relieved (and stupid with smiling Mickey tied on my bag). The first photo from my phone after I claimed it in the police station.

This experience made me realize how something lost can be more valuable once you find it again. You treasure it more. You take care of it more... Because it's painful losing something precious and you don't want it to happen again.