Metro to get more cops for Christmas

By Ron Gagalac, ABS-CBN News
Posted at 11/29/2010 8:58 PM |
Updated as of 11/29/2010 8:58 PM

MANILA, Philippines - More than 1,000 police officers will be fielded in the whole of Metro Manila starting December 1 to augment existing police forces that will patrol the streets for the Yuletide season.

Chief Superintendent Nicanor Bartolome, regional director of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCPRO), told ABS-CBN News in a telephone interview that he has ordered police officers assigned to desk jobs to go out on the streets for patrol as an added measure to help curb criminality.

"This is to augment personnel who are conducting patrol duties, we need more warm bodies," he said.

He said every year, they are expecting crimes like theft and robbery to rise during the Christmas season.

Aside from the 14,400 police officers in the National Capital Region (NCR) who man the streets regularly, 800 more police desk personnel will be deployed from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m., and another 800 from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.

These are considered to be peak hours of transaction when most people are out on the streets.

Bartolome said there is no need to train police desk personnel in patrolling the streets since they have been trained to do so since they entered the force.

He added that the concentration of deployment will be in areas where people usually converge like malls, bus terminals, seaport, public markets, and areas set up for the Christmas season like bazaar, tiangges, and others.

Random checkpoints will also be established especially at night to guard against carjackers and criminals riding in tandem in a motorcycle.

On Monday night, an ABS-CBN news team saw police officers constantly on patrol in night markets in Mandaluyong, malls in Pasig and San Juan, and bus terminals along EDSA.

Some police officers are on foot patrol manning the entrances, exits, and perimeters of a mall in Pasig, while a police mobile was roving around a popular night market in Mandaluyong and a busy mall in San Juan.

Crime rate not soaring

Bartolome, however, clarified that the new strategy of deploying desk personnel is not an indication of crime increasing in the NCR.

He said police statistics show that there has not been any crime resurgence for the past 10 months.

He revealed that the crime rate in Metro Manila went down by as much as 27% as compared to the first ten months of last year.

"Wala namang tumataas, we just want to reduce the incidence of crime," Bartolome said.

The Eastern Police District (EPD), meanwhile, has also activated 6 more intelligence teams.

Their main task is to curb crimes related to robbery of banks and establishments, carjacking, and kidnapping.

Senior Supt. Alfredo Masculino Calama-an, EPD deputy head for planning and operations said each team, called the Special Operations Task Group (SOTG), will be composed of 8 police officers whose training has been focused on police intelligence and operations.

Each police station covered by EPD such as Mandaluyong, San Juan, Marikina, and Pasig will get the services of the SOTG during the Yuletide season. Two more units were assigned to the EPD headquarters.

Carjacking cases up

Calama-an admitted there has been an increase in the incidence of car theft and carjacking cases in their district, particularly incidents involving the "Bundol Gang."

The situation had prompted Sen. Manny Villar to file a resolution urging the Senate Committee on Public Order and Illegal Drugs, to conduct an inquiry in aid of legislation, on the rise of car thefts in the metropolis.

The move seeks to intensify public campaigns on drivers' safety and stamp out notorious car theft groups operating in the country.

Senate Resolution No. 284 indicated that the daily record on car theft activities in the NCR for the last 3 quarters of this year shows a daily average of 2 to 4 incidents.

The stolen vehicles are often used to commit more serious crimes like kidnapping, robbery, murder, and other related activities, according to Villar.

The resolution added that the Philippine National Police-Highway Patrol Group (PNP-HPG) recorded a total of 1,032 cars and vans stolen nationwide in 2009.

The PNP-HPG also reported that from July to September this year, a total of 58 vehicles were stolen in Quezon City, 48 vehicles in Manila, and 24 in Mandaluyong City.

Toyota Fortuner, Nissan Urvan and Isuzu Crosswind units ranked as the top 3 most-stolen vehicles.

The resolution also stated that Metro Manila, Region 3 (Central Luzon), and Region 4A (Calabarzon) are the top 3 areas where car theft is rampant in the Philippines. The top 3 cities in Metro Manila where car thieves often strike are Quezon City, Manila, and Makati.

Source: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/metro-manila/11/29/10/metro-get-more-cops-christmas