Metro ‘quiet, peaceful’ during Pacquiao-Mosley bout

MANILA, Philippines—Only a handful of petty crimes was reported in Metro Manila as boxing champ Manny Pacquiao stepped into the ring for his fight against American Shane Mosley on Sunday.

According to National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) spokesman Senior Superintendent Dionardo Carlos, their office did not receive any reports about criminal incidents from noon to around 2 p.m. while Pacquiao and Mosley were slugging it out.

He said a couple of hours before the big fight, only one case was reported to them—a teenager who stole the wallet of a woman on Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City.

“After that incident, no other crimes were reported to us by our field units,” Carlos told the Inquirer in a phone interview.

It was also around noon when members of the NCRPO assisted operatives of the Philippine National Police (PNP) Intelligence Group in arresting at a mall in Malate, Manila, a suspected Abu Sayyaf member who had a standing warrant of arrest for murder and frustrated murder.

Carlos declined to give more details about the arrest of Asdatul Sahiron and said the questions should be directed to the PNP Intelligence Group since it was the unit in charge of the operation.

In Quezon City, Supt. Nestor Abalos, intelligence chief of the Quezon City Police District, said Sunday was a slow day for them.

“Everything was quiet and peaceful. Even the criminals were watching Manny Pacquiao,” he said in a phone interview.

Abalos added, “It so happened [that] at the time of the Pacquiao fight, President Aquino was also abroad so the police were on full alert. Our [men] went on full deployment on Sunday to [ensure] peace and order.”

He confirmed Carlos’ report that the only case reported in the city on Sunday involved a 19-year-old pregnant teenager who was arrested for stealing some P3,600 in cash and other valuables from a woman at a pedestrian overpass on Commonwealth Avenue.

Analyn Paulino, a resident of Parola Compound in Tondo, Manila, was arrested inside the Convergy’s building.

According to the police, Paulino and two other women conspired to steal Edlene Atienza’s bag and take her wallet, which contained identification cards, credit cards and P3,600 in cash.

Atienza, 33, a resident of Barangay (village) Holy Spirit, was going down an overpass near Ever Gotesco mall at around 10:45 a.m. when three women bumped into her.

She later realized that her wallet was missing and asked the police for help. She described the three women who she suspected might have taken her wallet.

Police arrested Paulino minutes later, during which she surrendered her victim’s wallet but without its contents.

In Manila, an Indian trader lost on Sunday afternoon some P15,000 in cash to a motorcycle-riding robber.

Sukhvindor Singh, of Meycauayan, Bulacan, was walking at around 12:30 p.m. at the corner of UN Avenue and Otis Street in Ermita when his path was blocked by a motorcycle rider.

The rider then brandished a fan knife at the Indian man and took his money.

The victim immediately reported the robbery to the Manila Police District’s General Assignment Section and told investigators that part of the motorcycle’s license plate read 4221.

“Quiet and peaceful” was also how a Northern Police District (NPD) official described the situation in the cities of Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas and Valenzuela during the much-publicized match between Pacquiao and Mosley.

Inspector Jose Hizon, investigation chief of the NPD District Investigation and Detective Management Unit, said there were no recorded untoward incidents in the area on Sunday except for a shooting incident in Barangay Tonsuya, Malabon City.

“But that did not even occur during Pacquiao’s match. It happened at dawn,” Hizon told the Inquirer.—With Jeannette I. Andrade, Kristine Felisse Mangunay, Julie M. Aurelio and Hans Joshua Dantes (trainee)