An Open Letter to SMDC Berkeley Residences, Katipunan
by Kends Toledo
 On November 11, at around 8:30 in the evening, I was robbed of my belongings within the premises of Berkeley Residences, Katipunan. I was victimized by what most people call “riding in tandem”, just a few meters from the ramp of Savemore. The said culprits tried to run me over and got my belongings.
 My first act after it happened was to report the incident to the doorman of Berkeley Residences. All he was able to offer were excuses to the effect that incidents like this happened all the time in around the area and that there was nothing that could be done, considering the perpetrators had already left.
 Let us back up for a minute. If incidents like these do indeed happen frequently on and around your property, shouldn't your people be taking steps to ensure that they don't? Isn't that the entire point of hiring security in the first place? Second, are Berkeley Residences staff not trained to assist its residents in the event of incidents like these? Granted, the perpetrators had already made their escape. The least they could have done was offer assistance in reporting the incident to the police. I was already in a state of shock, and not only was your staff unhelpful, but it felt as though they found it a huge inconvenience on their part to actually do anything about it! I am a resident of Berkeley Residences, and have been staying in the said condominium since 2012. I, along with all the residents of your building, pay association dues to ensure that we are provided with security and quality service. Behavior like this is unprofessional and inexcusable. If this is the kind of treatment that you expect us to accept then what are we, whose lives are in the hands of these uncommitted people, paying for?
 Speaking of which, there’s your pathetically inept CCTV surveillance personnel, for whom I reserve a great portion of my ire. There were CCTV cameras directed at the scene but, remember, there was absolutely no response from the security staff. Upon returning to the building, I found the person who was supposed to be manning surveillance sitting at her station, CCTV screens showing a live feed in front her, but she was not paying attention to it, instead being occupied in chatting with someone else. She did not alert other security personnel to respond, which is at the very least gross negligence of the job that SMDC are paying her to do. In fact, she was not even aware that a crime had occurred on her watch!
 This same person also wilfully refused to give me access to this same CCTV footage. Apparently she shared the doorman’s opinion that there was nothing that could be done. Again, that may or may not be true, but would it have been that much of a hassle to check if the CCTV cameras—which, again, she was supposed to be monitoring—were able to capture the perpetrators’ faces, or the motorcycle’s vehicle registration number, or at the very least its model and color? Would it have killed her to show a little compassion for someone who was victim of a crime that happened right under her very nose?
 Then there's your actual security force. Normally there is a guard posted by SM Savemore and only a few meters away from where it happened but he was not at his post. Is security normally this lax? If the absent guard is not going to be interrogated for possible complicity in this crime, then unless he has a compelling reason for not being there he should at the very least be cited for shirking his duty.
 The incompetence of your security force and staff is beyond appalling. They endanger the lives of the hundreds of residents who come in and out of your building on a daily basis. Who's to say that it will not happen again, and what will you do if in the next incident, the victim does not lose their belongings, but their life? I was fortunate that I was not run over by the perpetrators. I was fortunate that they did not pull a gun on me. What if the next one is not so lucky? What would your security do then? What would your management and staff do? Because from my experience I feel that they would not be able to form a coherent, much less adequate, response to such an emergency. And I feel that they wouldn’t even give a damn.