No matter how rich and famous they are, celebrities' lives aren’t always a bed of roses. In fact, their wealth quickly subjects them to robbery, given their social status and penchant for expensive things. Case in point: Camille Prats, who recently got her phone stolen from her bag while waiting for the BLACKPINK concert to start last Sunday, March 26, at the Philippine Arena in Bulacan.
In a lengthy series of Instagram stories, the actress narrated how she had fallen to theft and still miraculously retrieved her belonging. Here's how her experience went:
At around 5:43 PM, hours before the concert, Camille noticed that she had lost her phone, so she immediately called her husband VJ Yambao to mark it as lost and erase all its data. Fortunately, they have a tracker installed—so they were able to locate it in the parking area. At 9:30 PM, the phone was turned off by the person holding it, albeit its tracing feature still works on Camille's end.
It was already 3:00 AM when the couple went home after following the location of the phone and the house it ended up at. “Ala-Taken movie,” she joked, referencing Liam Neeson’s hit action film.
Five hours after, the phone could still be tracked in the same house—so Camille and VJ went to the police station early in the morning to accompany them to the location. They contacted the homeowner’s association and the village guards, and kindly approached the homeowners about the phone, which can be traced to where they live. “No mention of getting stolen; we didn’t wanna accuse anyone of such thing. Just trying to explain to them that my phone can still be tracked on that exact location at baka napansin nila,” Camille wrote.
Despite being *objective* and not pointing fingers at anyone, the homeowners answered that they didn’t know anything and nobody from their homes had gone to the Philippine Arena the night before.
Refusing to give up, Camille and VJ returned to the police station and asked if they could review the village gate's CCTV, especially since there was a notification that it had reached the location at 1:20 AM.
Shortly after, the phone changed location, so they followed it *again*, this time with the police officers. “At this point, I feel like chances are slim na ‘cause we’re now in a public place, and it’s going to be harder na to find the phone.”
They eventually decided to stop following the phone anymore because “it felt like we’re chasing a mouse, " armed with zero lead or idea about the person handling the phone. Then, the phone’s location eventually reached the police station. At around 6 PM, they finally confirmed that it was finally returned. “We received a call from my brother who knows someone who knows someone working at Precint 6 saying somebody sent my phone there via a motorcycle delivery service.”
The news made the two burst into tears. They were so relieved! “VJ and I are 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.”
“We just prayed and prayed that things will fall into place and that God will help us find it. 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,” she wrote, saying that the suspects could’ve easily dumpled or thrown her phone somewhere else.
She then thanked the police officers who assisted them, even though they didn’t recognize her at first. “Kindness always prevails,” she said, speaking about the power of dealing with matters peacefully, no matter how chaotic things get.
“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 said.
Ultimately, she thanked his husband and his brother for helping her throughout the search. “I think, though, that my husband’s motivation to track it down was because he doesn’t want to buy me a new phone. Iba din ang kuripot talaga,” she joked. LOL!
She concluded her post by advising netizens to activate their phone’s security feature. “If you’re using an IPhone, make sure you activate Find My Phone. It is very helpful. Once locked by the owner, di sya mau-unlock para maibenta ulit. In fairness sa security ng Apple.”
Phew. We’re relieved for you, Camille!
