MANILA, Philippines - President Benigno Aquino III on Thursday ordered the Philippine National Police (PNP) to increase police visibility in response to the spate of carjackings, some deadly, in different parts of the country.
Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. said Aquino gave his instructions to Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo, PNP chief Director General Raul Bacalzo and Metro Manila police chief Nicanor Bartolome during a meeting Wednesday.
In a media briefing on Thursday, Presidential Deputy Spokesperson Abigail Valte said the PNP will install checkpoints in strategic areas of Metro Manila to increase police visibility that could deter unscrupulous groups in carrying out their illegal activities.
“Certainly, it (the carjackings) is a cause for alarm, which is why the President has already asked the PNP to be on top on this… to take extra measures. Some of them, particularly the Manila Police District (MPD), have been putting up checkpoints to increase police visibility," Valte said.
Valte said Secretary Robredo will update the public on Friday on the status of the investigations into the gruesome killings of the son of former Marcos lawyer Oliver Lozano, Emerson, and car dealer Venson Evangelista.
She said the killings do not seem to be politically motivated.
The PNP Highway Patrol Group, meanwhile, claimed that carjacking cases in the country have gone down this year compared to previous years.
Senior Superintendent Edwin Butacan, HPG spokesman, said 31 vehicles were stolen from January 1 to 19, 2011 or an average of 1.6 vehicles per day. Butacan said this is lower than the 2010 average of 2 to 3 everyday, and the 3 to 4 stolen daily in 2009.
The HPG spokesman also said the majority of the 31 vehicles stolen this month are motorcycles, not cars as previously reported. With a report from Willard Cheng,
