• Screen and choose your househelp, especially family drivers, office workers carefully. Demand police and NBI clearance. Upon hiring, it is advisable to take a photo of your househelp and driver.
• Instruct your office staff or househelp not to volunteer information about you or your everyday activities.
• Avoid a conspicuous and luxurious lifestyle – the more you are noticed, the more danger you and your family are exposed to.
• Avoid personal ads like buy and sell of large properties that call attention to your financial status.
• Make friends with your neighbors. Get them organized. They will inform you of any suspicious people observing or asking about you.
• Try not to be alone in the car. Four to five passengers inside the car is a deterrent to kidnap attempts.
• Be vigilant! Look to see if there are suspicious men around your area or any suspicious vehicle following you.
• Prepare yourself mentally so you know what to do when a kidnapper’s car tries to intercept you. The surprise factor will work in your favor if you have presence of mind. Your car itself is a protection and a weapon. Lock your car doors and close your windows and keep on blowing your horn to attract as much attention as possible.
• Avoid traveling through isolated roads.
• Report the crime immediately to law enforcement agencies near you or call the Movement for Restoration of Peace and Order. (Dial 150-309263 or 155-309263 and leave your message and phone number. Or call the MRPO office at 242-0808, 242-3123.) They will give you moral support and professional advice on how to negotiate, etc. If need be, you will be allowed to pay ransom because the victim’s life is always the paramount concern. In choosing to cooperate, information (about the perpetrators, the weapons, the modus operandi, etc.) would have been gathered.
• The kidnappers will usually scare and and harass you with such threats as: "We know you reported to the PACC. We’ll kill the victim. We’ll cut off the victim’s legs unless we get the ransom tomorrow." This should not intimidate you if you remain calm and cool-headed. In short, do not make it too easy for the kidnappers to accomplish their job.
• Instruct all household members, particularly drivers and housemaids, to observe what’s going on outside before opening the gate, and report any suspicious persons or vehicles around the gate.
• Never automatically open your front door. Install a wide-angle viewer peephole in the door so you check a person’s identity without unlocking your door. Make sure you know your visitor’s identity before admitting him.
• If the person at your door is a stranger, ask for some identification to be passed under the door. Check ID carefully before admission. If in doubt, don’t admit him.
• Beware of strangers who may likely be looking around your premises and trying to befriend your guard or housemaid.
• If possible, install a siren or burglar alarm near the gate with the switch connected to the master’s bedroom.
• Do not panic. Stay calm and think rationally. Cooperate with the robbers if they are already in control.
• If the owner is a licensed gunholder, keep the gun easily within reach. Remember that gun ownership is responsible gun-handling.
• If you become a victim, try to remember all the details that may be relevant to your case later like the physical appearance of the robbers, their manner of speech and accent, the names they were called, etc.
• Be sure your househelp know your office numbers or other numbers to contact in case of emergency.
• When away at night, leave a light on.
• Keep the police emergency number taped to all your phones.
• If there’s an ongoing construction near your place, watch out for construction workers and instruct your helpers not to befriend or admit them.
• When leaving home, make sure that all doors are locked and all windows are closed.
• Avoid answering the phone yourself. Instruct your office workers or househelp not to volunteer information about you or your whereabouts.
• It is better to open ATM accounts for your workers so you don’t have to have a big payroll transported to or kept in your office.
• Call the police if any suspicious individuals are loitering in or around your place of business. Keep the police emergency number taped to all your phones.
• Always use two people to open and close your business for the day, to handle or transfer money. Do not have a fixed schedule when going to the banks.
• Keep the lights on outside the gate or your business establishment at night.
• During a robbery, avoid any action that will alarm or anger the criminals.
• When carrying a purse, place only a few bills inside. If you carry a bag, don’t wrap the strap around your shoulder, neck or wrist. If your bag is grabbed, a strong strap will not yield easily and you may be injured.
• At night, travel only in well-lighted and well-traveled streets. Avoid taking short cuts in narrow sideroads when driving alone.
• Familiarize yourself with the route you take in getting home. If you feel someone is following you, run to the nearest store, gas station or building with guards for assistance.
• When going home, particularly after dark, do not linger at the entrance of your residence. Be sure your housekey is ready before you reach the gate/door. If you feel something is strange, don’t enter but go elsewhere and call for police assistance.
• Walk on the side of the street nearest to the oncoming traffic. If accosted by someone in a car, run in the direction opposite to where the car is headed.
• Hold on to your bag even when choosing items you need. It is easy for professionals to swipe it from you. Your bag may also contain valuable information (like a phone directory) on potential kidnap victims.
• Avoid wearing expensive jewelry that can attract kidnappers’ attention (especially for children).
• If you have to bring very young children, it is advisable that you hold their hand all the time to prevent them from wandering around on their own.
• Older children should constantly be warned against shady characters who may try to lure them away from their parents.
• Big department stores and shopping malls have security personnel who can give immediate assistance if you notice people acting suspiciously.
• If threatened inside a shopping mall, shouting or calling attention can be a safety measure, unless you notice that your assailant is ready to use firearms or deadly weapons against you. Criminals would rather get away than draw atention to themselves.
• Always check the surroundings and your car before getting in – make sure no one is inside. It is best to park in attended lots.
• When driving, keep the doors locked and the windows closed.
• If you feel you are being followed, drive to the nearest police station, fire station or open gas station.
• If you have a flat tire in an area you feel might not be safe, try to keep driving until you reach a safe location.
• Do not leave packages or personal items in open view in your car – place them in the trunk.
• Familiarize yourself with your route and identify possible places where you can seek help, or escape routes you can take that will not leave you cornered.