Crimes in church area and on school rush hours—Manila police

Chief Superintendent Marcelo Garbo Jr. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Churches and schools are apparently no sanctuaries against criminals, so reports the commander of a police station that has jurisdiction over one of Metro Manila “hotspots” for street crimes.

Superintendent Ricardo Layug, chief of the police station in Sta. Cruz, Manila, said in a report presented to National Capital Region Police Office director Chief Superintendent Marcelo Garbo Jr. on Wednesday,  that the highest crime incidences in his area were recently reported at the precincts on Alvarez and at Plaza Miranda, where the Quiapo church is located.

“Even inside the Quiapo church, when people stand up during offertory, they would report afterward that their pockets had been picked,” Layug said in Filipino.

From July 20 to 26 alone, the Plaza Miranda precinct posted six robbery-hold up incidents, three pickpocketing incidents, and one robbery-snatching.

Layug was giving the weekly security plan and progress report, as Garbo, upon his assumption of office last month ordered a crackdown on five identified street crime hotspots in Metro Manila, namely the University Belt area in Manila, Kalentong Street in Mandaluyong City, Cubao in Quezon City, Monumento in Caloocan City, and Baclaran in Pasay and Parañaque cities.

In a press statement, the NCRPO noted that the crime-prone areas have “heavy foot traffic and busy thoroughfares.”

The Sta. Cruz, Sampaloc and Sta. Mesa police stations have jurisdiction over the Manila University Belt.

Layug, still citing July 20-26 data, noted that aside from the usually criminally busy  hours of 12 midnight to 4 a.m.,  his area’s “crime clock” was prone to tick from 12 noon to 4 p.m., and 4 p.m. to 9 p.m.—”when students are coming in and out of school.”

Layug said that of the 1,177 crimes reported in his area from January to June this year, most were of crimes against property—robbery and theft.

He noted, however, that compared to the same period last year, there was a 14 percent drop in the crime volume.

At the police conference on Wednesday afternoon at the Southern Police District headquarters in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig, the Mandaluyong police also presented its report on Kalentong Street, which posted only seven reported robbery and theft incidents  for the first half of the year.

The area tallied the same number of crimes in the same period last year.

Garbo said he wanted a reduction of more than 50 percent in street crimes in the identified hotspots, and ordered augmentation forces from the NCRPO public safety battalion deployed to the areas.

The next police conference on the crime hotspots has been scheduled at the Northern Police District on Tuesday. The Pasay and Parañaque police are expected to give their merged progress report and security plan on Baclaran, a busy church area at the boundary between  the two cities.