Cell phone snatching down 50% — NCRPO

The successful raids conducted by the National Capital Region Police Office and the National Telecommunication Commission (NTC) on second hand cell phone outlets have reduced phone snatching incidents by 50 percent in Metro Manila, according to police officials.

Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Oscar Calderon threw his all-out support yesterday to the joint police-NTC undertaking intended to bring further down cases of cell phone theft.

"Gen. Calderon gave his full support to our effort in curbing the market for stolen cell phones. He directed us to intensify our campaign to bring the figure down even more," Metro police chief Director Vidal Querol said.

Calderon took time out from his hectic schedule yesterday to pay a visit to NCRPO headquarters at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig, where he met with ranking police officials and enlisted personnel.

It was the first visit of Calderon to a police camp since President Arroyo named him the new PNP chief last July 5.

Calderon also awarded medals to six policemen who gallantly engaged bank robbers in a gunfight in Pasig City.

He was then presented patches of the various districts of the NCRPO.

While Calderon did not cite figures on phone snatching incidents, he urged Querol to conduct more raids on other cell phone outlets selling stolen units, in close coordination with the NTC, led by Commissioner Ronald Solis.

Joint police and NTC teams have conducted at least six raids on cell phone outlets in Metro Manila since June 15, confiscating 180 undocumented units.

Calderon also called for a series of dialogues with cell phone traders starting next week to explain the importance of documenting all transactions to deter smugglers and criminals.

"We want them to make all their transactions above board so they will not be arrested and charged," said Querol, referring to cell phone traders.

The NCRPO chief said the success of their raids in Metro Manila prompted Solis to initiate plans to bring the joint police-NTC campaign against cell phone snatching to the provinces.

Calderon also praised Querol’s Night Watch program, which has brought down crime incidents in Metro Manila to their lowest levels in the past months.

The Night Watch program, calls for the deployment of additional policemen in "crime prone" areas of Metro Manila at night.

Under the program, more than 20,000 employees of call centers in the business hubs of Metro Manila like the Ortigas Center in Pasig, the Central Business District in Makati and the commercial areas in Mandaluyong City.

During a command conference, Querol briefed Calderon of the NCRPO’s security preparations for President Arroyo’s sixth State of the Nation Address (SONA) at the Batasan complex on July 24.

"I told him that we are concentrating our effort on preventing barangays surrounding the Batasan from being used as launching pad of any attack against the President," said Querol, who like Calderon, belongs to Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Class ’73.

Querol also announced yesterday the designation of Chief Superintendent Wilfredo Garcia, director of the Southern Police District (SPD) as the new chief of the PNP’s directorate for operations (DO) at Camp Crame.

Garcia, of PMA Class ’74, replaced his senior Director Antonio Billones, who was promoted last week as the Chief of Directorial Staff (CDS), or the No. 4 man of the PNP.

Querol named Senior Superintendent Roberto Bondoc, as the officer-in-charge of the SPD. — With Cecille Suerte Felipe