Courts in Metro malls proposed

Officials of the Philippine Retailers Association and the Employees Confederation of the Philippines yesterday urged the Philippine National Police to help establish "sattelite courts" in the various shopping malls in the metropolis to handle petty crimes as well as traffic violations.

In yesterday's weekly "Ugnayan ng Pulis at Mamamayan" forum at Camp Crame, PRA president Alegria Limjoco said that such "sattelite courts," manned by qualified government prosecutors, would help resolve cases of petty crimes such as pickpocketing, bag slashing and shoplifting as well as traffic violations faster.

Retired Marine Colonel Wenceslao Cruz, who is in charge of security at Ayala Land, told National Capital Region Police Office director Chief Superintendent Edgar Aglipay that their company is currently implementing a scheme similar to the proposed "satellite courts" projects in the Ayala Commercial Center in Muntinlupa.

Cruz said that under their "Gotcha" program which is similar to the proposed "satellite court" program, cases involving petty crimes inside the shopping area as well as those committed in the vicinity of the nearby Ayala Alabang Subdivision were quickly resolved.

But under the Ayala scheme, Cruz said that cases decided by their "satellite court" were still made appealable to higher courts for reconsideration.

Aglipay, meanwhile, expressed his support for the proposed "satellite court" program but stressed that the proposal still needs the approval of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), Department of Justice (DOJ) and the PNP hierarchy.

Limjoco reported that sales in various metro shopping malls have increased following the deployment of joint police and Philippine Marine anti-crime patrol teams under "Task Force Tulungan."

According to Limjoco, shopping mall owners reported that since the deployment of Marine personnel in the malls, sales increased by as much as 30 percent.

"We believe that it was indeed a positive move," Limjoco said, referring to the government's decision to deploy Marine troopers in commercial districts," she said.