“The amazing power of prayers.”
Kapuso actress Camille Prats shared how she retrieved her mobile phone which was stolen when she went to the Philippine Arena to watch the concert of K-pop supergroup BLACKPINK last Sunday.
In a series of Instagram Stories uploaded on Tuesday, the former child star narrated that she lost her personal gadget hours before the “Born Pink” concert of the popular girl group started.
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Camille said that she was at the Philippine Arena on March 26, 5:42 p.m. when she discovered her mobile phone “got stolen” from her bag.
The actress added that she called her husband, entrepreneur VJ Yambao, to alert him of the stolen item, so they could mark her phone as “lost” through her laptop and erase all the data inside.
“We have a tracker installed in my phone, the moment I called VJ, the phone was already in the parking lot area,” the actress said.
By 9:30 p.m., Camille left the Philippine Arena while her husband, together with her stepson Ice, went to the site since her phone “can still be tracked there.”
She added that her phone was “already locked” and had its data “erased through the laptop” by this time.
“It was also turned off by the person holding it,” the actress said.
Camille said she and her husband got home by 3 a.m. on March 27 “after following the location of the phone and which house it ended in.”
More than five hours after, the couple went to the nearest police station and reported that they could track the phone, which was “still at the same house where VJ last saw it.”
“They accompanied us to the house where the phone was last tracked. When we got there, we got in touch with someone from their homeowner’s association to assist us, as well as the village guards,” the actress said.
“We knocked and asked the owners of the 2 [two] houses if they chanced upon my phone which was lost in the Arena. No mention of it getting stolen, we didn’t want to accuse anyone of such [a] thing, just really trying to explain to them that my phone can still be tracked on that exact location at baka napansin nila,” she added.
“To no avail, they said they [didn’t] know anything about it and that nobody from their homes went to Philippine Arena. But clearly, the tracker says that the phone is there,” Camille continued.
By noon, the celebrity returned to the police station, where her husband and the police officers asked to review the CCTV footage of the village gate from 1:15 a.m. to 1:20 a.m. to see which vehicles went in.
According to Camille, she received a notification that her phone had reached the house there at 1:20 a.m.
By 1 p.m., Camille’s phone had changed location.
“From the house where we went to, it can now be located near IBP road. We left to follow it, together with the police officers. We did not find it,” she said.
IBP road is another term for Batasan Road, a multi-lane circumferential highway in Quezon City.
By 2 p.m., her phone was tracked at Shopwise on Commonwealth Avenue.
Camille and the rest of the police officers followed it, but she admitted that she felt “chances [were] slim” they would locate it.
They stopped following the phone’s location two hours later and decided to go home. However, the tracker moved again while they were on their way.
It was at the Batasan Police Station, also known as Precinct 6.
Camille waited to see if the tracker would continuously move, but it did not.
Her husband also speculated if that the phone was already surrendered to the police since its location remained static or unmoving.
By 6 p.m., the actress said they received a call from her brother who knew someone. The person connected them to another individual “working at Precinct 6.”
It was then confirmed that somebody had sent her phone to Precinct 6 through a delivery service.
“VJ and I were both in tears. We were praying the moment we left the house, on the road, before going down to the police station. It’s both our first time to ever go to a police station to ask for help, we didn’t know what to expect,” Camille said.
“We just prayed and prayed that things will fall into place and that God will help us find it,” she added.
“And He did. Only He alone can change people’s hearts and that probably led the person who has my phone to eventually surrender it back. They could’ve easily dumped it or [thrown] it anywhere,” the actress continued.
Camille also said the incident made her realize that one should not be scared to ask for help.
“The police officers who assisted us were very helpful. They didn’t know at first it was me, I was wearing a hat and a mask,” she shared.
“Kindness always prevails. God knows our hearts and we really wanted to deal with this as peacefully as we can. No harsh words, no accusations. Never-ending pakiusap lang talaga,” the actress added.
“The amazing power of prayers,” Camille continued with a folded hands emoji.
The actress said that while it might seem “impossible” to look for a lost moving phone, she and her husband “remained hopeful” that they would get it back.
“Who would’ve thought na babalik ‘yung phone not by force from the person who has it, but by him simply sending it to a police station to return it. Only God can make that happen,” she added with a pleading face emoji.
Camille also expressed gratitude to the following police officers who helped her and her husband:
The actress likewise mentioned her family who fully supported her throughout the ordeal.
Camille also advised iPhone users to “activate” its Find My iPhone feature, which she said was “very helpful” in helping her track her phone.
“Once locked by the owner, ‘di na siya ma-u-unlock para maibenta ulit. In fairness sa security ng Apple,” she added in another Instagram Story.
Apart from Camille, other personalities who went to the Philippine Arena to watch BLACKPINK include John Prats, Andrea Brillantes, Janella Salvador, Jane De Leon, Mimiyuuuh, Isabel Oli, Alexa Ilacad, Zeinab Harake, Kakai Bautista, and Michele Gumabao.
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