Child robbers on the rise in Malabon, Navotas

MANILA, Philippines - Malabon City residents and officials of the Navotas City fish port expressed alarm yesterday over the increasing numbers of minors who rob commuters and traders.

Jerson Galvez, 43, a resident of Barangay Tonsuya in Malabon, said that almost every night, commuters in jeepneys and tricycles along Letre Road are robbed by minors wielding weapons.

“Early morning Thursday, a group of at least four armed boys and three girls robbed a passenger jeepney along Letre Road and as they fled toward a squatters’ colony in the area they threw things on the road that turned out to be bank and credit cards,” Galvez told The STAR.

Of the 13 cards gathered by the witnesses, six of them bear the name Monette Cardona. Galvez turned over the cards to the Northern Police District Press Corps Thursday afternoon for safekeeping, claiming that he wanted to return them to Cardona but did not know where to find her.

According to Galvez, the child robbers operate from midnight to around 4 a.m. from Sangandaan in Caloocan City to Letre Road in Malabon.

“The Malabon police officers, who have a station on Letre Road, have already arrested many of these children but they could not lock them up for being minors, so they just let them go after confiscating their weapons,” Galvez said.

He said though the robbers are still young, some around 14 years old, they are armed “and are willing to kill if necessary and their number is growing.”

The Navotas fish port has banned minors unaccompanied by guardians or parents from going into the complex. Security chief Arfil Catipay said they imposed the ban due to the increasing cases of robberies allegedly perpetrated by minors.

The latest incident was on Oct. 6, wherein two boys, aged 14 and 16, were apprehended by his men for allegedly robbing trader Luis Ang of P20,000. Ang failed to recover his money and the boys were just set free.

“We just can’t apprehend and detain minors because of the Juvenile Welfare Act, the law that protects the rights of children, but is often abused by the kids knowing they could not be persecuted for their crime,” Catipay said.

He said fish port officials has been coordinating with the local social welfare office to find a solution to the problem.