Checkpoint cops nab 6 in Caloocan

Random police checkpoints set up in the backroads of Caloocan City yielded positive results the past two days including the arrest of four most wanted criminals, two of whom have several pending murder cases, early Monday morning.

Two teenage holduppers were also collared Monday night after robbing jeepney passengers on their way home to Malara, Caloocan City. All suspects have been locked up at the city jail.

Senior Superintendent Benjardi Mantele, city police chief, identified the first set of suspects as Arlito Cabe, 20, Lemuel Galit, 22, both natives of Samar, Laharni Martinez, 22, construction worker, a native of Bataan, all three neighbors in Bagong Silang, Caloocan City and Mandy Canares, 23, a native of Masbate, residing in Sauyo, Quezon City.

Cabe and Galit, who were found in possession of caliber .38 homemade revolvers, turned out to have four standing arrest warrants for several murder cases in June and October this year pending in the Caloocan trial courts, probers said. Canares and Martinez each yielded a 29-inch fan knives.

Mantele said three victims have turned up at the station and have positively identified the suspects as their attackers even as he called on the others who have been victimized by the same group.

Records showed the suspects were arrested at around 4:30 a.m. Monday at a checkpoint manned by a joint team of policemen from PCP 10, barangay leaders and watchmen.

Late that night, around 11:30 p.m., elements of PCP 12 along the Tala-Bagong Silang boundary led PO3 Rodin Ganadin, P02 Antonio Apostol and PO1 Emerson Ablaza, collared two 17-year-old males after robbing jeepney passengers of undetermined cash, cell phones and other valuables shortly before midnight.

Mantele commended Substation 3 commander Chief Inspector Nestor Dioso and his men at Police Community Precincts (PCP) 10 and 12 for the feat. Dioso, however, would not claim all the credit. "They were all an effort of barangay officials, the local residents, the non-government organizations and the police. If we continue to get our act together and cooperate, these criminals have no way but to think many times before making any false moves," Dioso told The STAR.

Dioso revealed that behind the catch were some 50 persons deployed either at the checkpoint itself and on patrol in the immediate vicinity. He said the checkpoints are random. "There is no prior announcement where they will be set up.

Superintendent Dionicio Borromeo, Station Investigation and Detection Management Bureau (SIDMB) chief, meanwhile, assured the public in the face of apprehensions about abuses that may be committed at the checkpoints.

"We assure you that there will be no abuses committed by our policemen. Everything is transparent. We see to it that your police is in uniform, with nameplates, under a responsible officer. The area will be well-lit. There will be clear police marking," Borromeo said. He said they will be working under the "plain view" theory. "Walang bababa ng sasakyan. Ibaba lang nila ang bintana," the officer said adding that there is a role for everyone at the checkpoint. He said the men at the checkpoint are composed of a security team, a search team, a recorder, an investigator, and a traffic enforcer. This is augmented by barangay watchmen, officials and even by members of NGOs like the Lions, said Borromeo.

The official also said that they are concentrating on tinted vehicles and suspicious characters riding motorcycles in tandem. He said that aside from deterring crime, they are also helping, among others, the Land Transportation Office (LTO) in their drive against unregistered or stolen vehicles, an act consistent with the police’s anti-car theft drive.

Mantele said three victims have turned up at the station and have positively identified the suspects as their attackers even as he called on the others who have been victimized by the same group.

Records showed the suspects were arrested at around 4:30 a.m. Monday at a checkpoint manned by a joint team of policemen from PCP 10, barangay leaders and watchmen.

Late that night, around 11:30 p.m., elements of PCP 12 along the Tala-Bagong Silang boundary led PO3 Rodin Ganadin, P02 Antonio Apostol and PO1 Emerson Ablaza, collared two 17-year-old males after robbing jeepney passengers of undetermined cash, cell phones and other valuables shortly before midnight.

Mantele commended Sub-station 3 commander Chief Inspector Nestor Dioso and his men at Police Community Precincts 10 and 12 for the feat. Dioso, however, would not claim all the credit. "They were all an effort of barangay officials, the local residents, non-government organizations and the police. If we continue to get our act together and cooperate, these criminals have no way but to think many times before making any false moves," Dioso told The STAR.

Dioso revealed that behind the catch were some 50 persons deployed either at the checkpoint itself and on patrol in the immediate vicinity. He said the checkpoints are random. "There is no prior announcement where they will be set up.

Superintendent Dionicio Borromeo, Station Investigation and Detection Management Bureau (SIDMB) chief, meanwhile, assured the public in the face of apprehensions about abuses that may be committed at the checkpoints.

"We assure you that there will be no abuses committed by our policemen. Everything is transparent. We see to it that your police is in uniform, with nameplates, under a responsible officer. The area will be well-lit. There will be clear police marking," Borromeo said. He said they will be working under the "plain view" theory. "Walang bababa ng sasakyan. Ibaba lang nila ang bintana," the officer said adding that there is a role for everyone at the checkpoint. He said the men at the checkpoint are composed of a security team, a search team, a recorder, an investigator, and a traffic enforcer. This is augmented by barangay watchmen, officials and even by members of NGOs like the Lions Club, said Borromeo.

The official also said that they are concentrating on tinted vehicles and suspicious characters riding motorcycles in tandem. He said that aside from deterring crime, they are also helping, among others, the Land Transportation Office (LTO) in their drive against unregistered or stolen vehicles, an act consistent with the police’s anti-car theft drive.