Car theft cases rise in 1st quarter

Car theft syndicates stepped up their illicit operations from January to March this year, stealing a total of 479 motor vehicles – 51 units more than the 428 they seized in the same period last year, former Senator and now Rep. Ernesto Herrera disclosed over the weekend.

Citing Philippine National Police Traffic Management Group (PNP-TMG) statistics, Herrera said 307 units or 65 percent of the vehicles taken by thieves in the first quarter were lost in the National Capital Region.

Herrera, meanwhile, urged the authorities to spare no effort in putting behind bars a former official of the Land Transportation Office (LTO) who had been linked to one of the biggest car theft gangs operating in Metro Manila.

The National Bureau of Investigation earlier said the Laguna Regional Trail Court had issued an arrest warrant for the accused – a retired general of the Philippine Army who used to head the LTO in Tarlac City.

"The authorities must show that no one is above the law, not even a former (Army) general," Herrera, a senatorial candidate of the People Power Coalition and chair of the anti-crime Citizens’ Drug Watch Foundation, pointed out.

The retired general remains a fugitive from justice up to now.

Last year, a total of 1,877 motor vehicles were reported stolen nationwide as against 1,909 units in 1999, according to the PNP-TMG.