Eight of 10 vehicle thefts from January to July this year occurred in Metro Manila, with Quezon City remaining the “car theft capital” because it accounted for more than a fourth of all cases nationwide, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said Thursday.
According to the Highway Patrol Group (HPG), the National Capital Region recorded the highest number of stolen motor vehicles with 84 percent of all cases reported nationwide.
The Calabarzon area (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon) and the Central Luzon region were a distant second and third, respectively, accounting for 10 percent and five percent of the total.
In Metro Manila, 26 percent of all vehicle theft cases—or 71 cars and 45 motorcycles—occurred in Quezon City, followed closely by Manila with 21 percent (48 cars and 44 motorcycles). Makati was a far third with only seven percent.
Decline in car theft cases
But in a report, HPG director Chief Supt. Leonardo Espina noted a dramatic fall in the number of cases in the first seven months of the year compared to the same period in 2010.
According to him, there was a 56.38 percent decline in the number of vehicle thefts with only 536 cases reported this year, down from 1,229 cases in 2010. The total included both stolen cars and motorcycles.
The HPG also reported an improved recovery rate with 398 vehicles taken back from car thieves during the same period this year as compared to only 223 in 2010.
It attributed the decline in car theft cases to major accomplishments in neutralizing criminal syndicates, including the Dominguez car theft group which was tagged in a number of high-profile cases.
Meanwhile, the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) said that the policemen who went after two groups of suspected car thieves and robbers on Wednesday were from special teams which had been organized to hunt down organized crime groups.
Special police teams
In a phone interview, Senior Supt. Dionardo Carlos explained that the teams have been working on neutralizing gangs operating in Metro Manila, specifically those involved in car thefts and robberies.
Wednesday’s encounters which resulted in the death of seven suspected car thieves indicated that the teams’ efforts were bearing fruit, said Carlos, the NCRPO spokesperson.
“Their objectives are to arrest and bring to justice these people,” he said. “They [suspects] are now considered a menace to the public in Metro Manila.”
He added that NCRPO Chief Director Alan Purisima was closely monitoring the progress of these teams and that their accomplishments were being evaluated monthly.
Forced to retaliate
“The teams’ priority is to identify the criminal groups and after identification [of their members], the police must make them stop their activity by arresting them,” Carlos said. “But [in Wednesday’s operations, the gang members] fought back, so our personnel had to engage.”
Five suspected members of the Lintag car theft and robbery group and two members of the Onad gang were killed in the operations launched by the police in Makati and Quezon City.
However, the police lost one of their men while another was wounded.