Last-minute change of plan saves Martin & friends at RWM

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Did you know that Martin del Rosario and his three friends were at the Resorts World Manila Friday night when tragedy struck? But thanks to their last-minute change of plan and they were saved.

Martin and company were there to watch the last screening of Wonder Woman at one of the theaters at the fourth floor. While killing time at the ground-floor coffee shop, they decided to catch the 12:30 a.m. screening instead of 1:30 a.m. as they originally planned.

“We went up the theater after midnight,” recalled Martin. “One hour later, I went to the restroom at the third floor because the one at the fourth floor was too far. When I got out of the CR, I heard a gunshot. I asked a guard what was happening and he said that a drunk was creating trouble.”

So Martin went inside the theater and joined his friends who were so engrossed in watching former Miss Israel Gal Gadot doing her thing as Wonder Woman.

“The theater was full,” continued Martin. “But we noticed that people were going in and out, maybe checking what the commotion downstairs was all about. My friends and I continued enjoying the movie. I got curious when more and more people kept coming in and out, so I decided to check.”

That’s when Martin learned what was really happening. He could smell smoke which, unknown to him, was coming from the casino at the second floor overlooking the coffee shop where Martin and friends were killing time earlier.

“By then, the guard was ordering people to head for the exit. The battery of my celfone had run out and I begged the guard to lend me his celfone so I could call my friends. At that time, the screening was nearly done. When I went inside the theater, only around 30 people were left behind, my friends included.”

Together with many others, Martin and friends were pointed to an exit that led to the adjoining Remington Hotel and they checked in. It was already 4 a.m. and the Resorts World was ablaze.

“We turned on the TV set and watched the news where a police officer was saying that nobody was hurt and the gunman had been killed,” said Martin. “We felt relieved and went to sleep. When we woke up at around 11 a.m. the next day, we learned from the newscast about the tragedy that, we would learn later, killed 38 people. It was only in the afternoon when I was able to get my car at the basement parking of Resorts World. We were not allowed by the guard to get our cars earlier because off-limits pa yung area.”

Had Martin and friends stuck to their original plan to watch the 1:30 a.m. screening of Wonder Woman, could you imagine what could have happened?

“You see,” sighed Martin, “we planned to linger at the coffee-shop, until we decided to watch the 12:30 screening instead.”

The suspect got into the Resorts World at around that time.

“The change of plan saved us,” added Martin who, together with his friends, are grieving for the victims. “One hour made the whole difference.”

(E-mail reactions at [email protected]. For more updates, photos and videos, visit www.philstar.com/funfare or follow me on Instagram @therealrickylo.)