Quezon City carjackings, car thefts drop in 2008

Incidents of carjacking and car theft in Quezon City dramatically declined from 650 cases in 2007 to 91 cases last year, the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) reported yesterday.

QCPD director Chief Superintendent Magtanggol Gatdula, in his report to Mayor Feliciano Belmonte Jr., said the rapid decline has practically removed the tag of the city in 2001 as the “Carnap Capital” of the country.

Gatdula attributed the decrease to intensified efforts and strategies undertaken by his district in addressing the problem.

Among the anti-crime measures implemented by the police were maximized police visibility, “Oplan Pakitang Gilas,” setting up of choke and checkpoints in crime-prone areas, and daily field training exercises.

Gatdula said the QCPD has also intensified its watch on motorcycle thefts, which recorded 93 cases last year.

“Thieves are now shifting their targets to motorcycles, which can be easily spirited out to the provinces,” he said.

The QCPD chief also reported the decline in the city’s overall crime situation, particularly robberies perpetrated by suspects riding motorcycles in tandem, from 185 cases in 2007 to 119 in 2008.

The QCPD said among its major anti-crime achievements last year is the neutralization of the notorious Madrigal carjack gang, an Akyat Bahay gang led by a police officer, the arrest of suspected big-time drug trafficker Peter Zhan Yu and his cohorts, and the recovery of four kilos of methamphetamine hydrochloride or “shabu.”

The QCPD has been declared as the Most Model Police District by the US Department of Justice and named the Best Police District in the National Capital Region Office. – Perseus Echeminada