The spate of crimes committed by motorcycle riders has prompted homeowners in Marikina City subdivisions to put up gates for their own protection.
“The moment your place is targeted by these men, you can only choose between life and property. But we thought, ‘Why couldn’t we be proactive?’” Jose Antonio Jimenez, president of the homeowners’ association in Rancho 1, told the Inquirer.
He and the other residents in the upper middle-class subdivision were among the first to install gates in the area as part of their effort to help the police curb criminality in the city.
Jimenez noted that since they put up gates in the subdivision last month, the crime rate has gone down to zero.
He added that as a precaution, the six gates in Rancho 1 Subdivision are closed from 11 p.m. to 4 a.m., the period in which crimes usually take place.
“We have studied the traffic count and the crime patterns. During the wee hours of the night, no one is going in and out of the subdivision except suspicious-looking [persons],” Jimenez explained.
With the crime rate down, he said the police may now focus on more vulnerable areas and “poor and middle class neighborhoods” where they are more needed.
Earlier, Marikina police chief, Senior Superintendent Gabriel Lopez, suggested that neighborhoods put up gates to keep criminals out, a proposal that has been implemented in several subdivisions since the start of the year.
According to Jimenez, by being more proactive, they hope to make the world smaller for criminals.
He recalled two robberies in the area last year. “The house owner had a gun so he managed to fight off the robbers. The other victim, however, was defenseless and allowed robbers to empty his house,” Jimenez said.
He added that it was easy for the robbers to get away undetected because they were either in heavily tinted vehicles or on a motorcycle and wearing helmets to hide their identities.
“We are trying to assist the government by providing our own police multipliers. As you know, the ratio between the policemen and the population is far from the ideal,” he said.
Homeowners have also asked the city council to take another look at the old ordinance regulating the construction of gates in all subdivisions in Marikina.
Approved in 1994, Ordinance No. 198 allows motorists to use roads within subdivisions as alternate routes.
“Times have changed. In those days, crime was [not as] rampant,” Jimenez said.
Contacted for comment, Vice Mayor Jose Fabian Cadiz said that talks about amending the ordinance have started.
“We are starting to study the merits of this proposal. Private subdivisions may begin constructing their gates as long as jurisdiction over their roads has not been turned over to the city government,” he told the Inquirer.