Motorcycle-riding men snatch lady’s bag in Mandaluyong, skirt ‘riding-tandem’ ban

MANILA, Philippines—A woman in Mandaluyong City was robbed Monday night by motorcycle-riding criminals despite the city’s strict implementation of an ordinance banning unrelated men from riding together on a motorcycle to deter street crimes.

Dariecel Navarro, a sales lady, was walking to her home at Sanggumay St., Barangay Plainview, Mandaluyong City, when two men aboard a motorcycle snatched her shoulder bag at around 7:30 p.m. on Monday.

PO3 Gregorio Acbay said the two still unidentified men snatched Navarro’s bag, which contained cash, a cell phone and a set of work uniform, in front of a roast chicken store at Maysilo Circle at the corner of Martinez Avenue.

Maysilo Circle is where City Hall and the local police’s headquarters are located.

Acbay said Navarro wasn’t able to jot down the license plate of the motorcycle-riding criminals who sped off in the direction of Boni Avenue.

In September, the local government implemented Ordinance No. 550, or the “ordinance regulating motorcycle riding-in-tandem in Mandaluyong,” in response to the growing number of crimes committed by criminals who use motorcycles in pulling off crimes and in escaping.

Supt. Tyrone Masigon, the Mandaluyong chief of police said that before the city implemented the ordinance, it recorded at least two crimes pulled off by motorcycle-riding men every day. These crimes, he added, usually happened from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m.

He told the Philippine Daily Inquirer that Monday night’s robbery was an “isolated case and our men are already investigating it.” He added that it was the first riding-in-tandem crime reported around Maysilo Circle, which has always been teeming with people.

Masigon said they would not be beefing up police presence in the area just because of Monday night’s robbery, saying making such a move “depends on where the volume of crimes is most high and where they happen most frequently.”

In an earlier interview, the Mandaluyong deputy chief of police for administration, Supt. Cresenciano Landicho, said that the ordinance, which had been under fire from motorcycle organizations, had “greatly helped” the local force of 293 policemen in curbing motorcycle-aided crimes.

Monday night’s robbery was the first reported case of a successful riding-tandem heist. In October, an unidentified victim reported an attempted robbery along Shaw Boulevard at the corner of Frienstone St. in Barangay Wack Wack. Masigon said the robbers dropped the victim’s bag a few meters off and did not return for it.

Landicho said they were able to apprehend two suspected riding-tandem criminals in October because of the ordinance. A .38 caliber revolver and five live ammunition were recovered from the suspects.

The local government of Mandaluyong City has yet to release an official statement on the impact of Monday’s robbery to the ordinance.