Need cops? Got a complaint? ‘Isumbong mo kay Picoy’

The chief of the Metro Manila police has opened a Facebook account which residents can use as a hotline to report any criminal activity.

Just last week, a woman victimized by a serial car thief got her vehicle back after she sent a private message to National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) chief, Director Camilo Cascolan, via Facebook.

“Cascolan immediately coordinated with the Highway Patrol Group Task Force and the latter responded promptly, [which] resulted [in the] immediate recovery of the [stolen] car,” the NCRPO said in a statement.

The car theft victim, Maria Kristina Morioka, rented out her Hyundai Accent on April 8 to Regie Camille Cometa, who failed to return it after a month.

Morioka asked Cascolan for help after the suspect started blocking her calls.

Aside from his Facebook account, (Picoy Cascolan or www.facebook.com/picoy.cascolan86), the NCRPO chief also urged Metro Manila residents to report “concerns, relevant information, complaints and need for police assistance” through a newly-opened text hotline, 0995-0018886, or “Isumbong mo kay Picoy.”

“The Philippine National Police hotline is nationwide. But this one is direct to us — for Metro Manila police only,” he said in an interview Wednesday. —Matthew Reysio-Cruz