Questions on Filipinos’ safety and welfare in public spaces were raised after Kapamilya actress Kim Chiu was involved in a shooting incident on Monday morning.
The 29-year-old actress was inside a black van en route to her taping of the television series “Love Thy Woman” when unidentified gunmen on a motorcycle riddled her vehicle with bullets.
Reports noted that the incident happened at the corner of Katipunan Avenue and C.P. Garcia Avenue in Diliman, Quezon City at around 6:15 a.m. on Wednesday.
On her Instagram account, Chiu shared that she was sleeping when the sound of “eight” gunshots woke her up.
No one was hurt from the incident but the bullets hit the area where the actress usually sits when she reads her scripts—behind the driver’s seat which she believed was the “safest spot.”
Chiu speculated that the incident could be a case of “mistaken identity” as she believes there is no possible motive behind the criminal act.
“I don’t have an idea what really happened, mistaken identity? I guess?? Napagtripan?… This is a bad joke,” the actress said.
“Wala naman akong kaaway or kaatraso. Why me? Kung sino man ang gumawa nito, Diyos na ang bahala sa inyo dalawa, at the end of the day, inisip ko nalang walang nasaktan sa amin,” Chiu added.
Chiu and her assistant went straight to the taping after the incident.
Meanwhile, the motorcycle of the gunmen fled toward the direction of Commonwealth Avenue.
A special investigative task force was formed by the Quezon City Police District to probe the shooting incident.
‘Safe pa ba kami?’
The incident alarmed Filipinos on social media who wondered that if a famous personality like Chiu could be randomly ambushed in broad daylight, anybody could be a victim.
“Nakakatakot na mga kriminal ngayon, wala nang sinisino, grabee oy. Mabuti talaga safe kayo Kim Chiu,” a Twitter user said.
“If this happened to Kim Chiu, pwedeng mangyari sa ‘yo ito. So, take extra care!” a user warned.
Another social media user said the incident, whether it was an actual case of mistaken identity or not, is an indication that the country is still not as safe as Singapore, contrary to what House Speaker Alan Cayetano believed before.
“Ang layo pa din ng (Pilipinas) sa Singapore. Safe bang matatawag ‘yan? E muntik (nang) mamatay si Kim Chiu,” she commented.
“I really don’t know what’s happening on our country (right now)… Pilipinas, ano na? Safe pa ba kami?” wrote another Twitter user.
The incident prompted Sen. Richard Gordon to urge the Land Transportation Office to strictly implement the Motorcycle Crime Prevention Act mandating two-wheeled vehicles to have bigger and color-code license plates.
The legislator said the law is “meant to obviate crimes perpetrated by criminals using motorcycles as getaway vehicles.”
It was specifically created to prevent the crimes committed by riding-in-tandems but Sen. Leila de Lima argued that the proposed law is “discriminatory” and “anti-poor” against people who use motorcycles for their livelihood and those who use it for transportation.
The National Capital Region Police Office previously said that it planned on establishing on-the-spot checks on motorcycle riding-in-tandem passengers, as well as deploy roaming patrols to prevent crimes.
