MPD revamp on as ‘car theft capital’ tag irks Lim

Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim has relieved the head of the Manila Police District’s anticar theft unit of his post following reports that Manila has overtaken Quezon City as the country’s “car theft capital.”

In a command conference on Friday, Lim ordered the replacement of Chief Insp. Ariel Caramoan and directed MPD director Gen. Alex Gutierrez and the local station commanders to intensify the campaign against vehicle theft.

“We will have a revamp because I am not satisfied with the performance of the police,” said Lim, a former MPD chief before he entered politics. “(The police) have to come in very strong against all forms of criminality. They should arrest those who violate the law because that is their job.”

The Highway Patrol Group of the Philippine National Police last week said that in August alone, 19 vehicles were reported stolen in Manila while “only” nine car theft complaints were recorded in Quezon City. A total of 50 car theft incidents nationwide during the same period, the HPG added. Erika Sauler