Manila gang trains children to be thieves

Children as young as seven years old are being trained and used by a pickpocket gang operating in Divisoria and Quiapo to escape arrest and prosecution, the Manila Police District said yesterday.

Policemen arrested two children who were caught stealing cash and a cellular phone from Divisoria shopper Shirley Maceda, who said the children distracted her by offering plastic bags for sale.

Maceda identified the children, who yielded P520 and a cell phone the victim said was hers.

The seven-year-old girl, the more vocal of the two, said they were trained by an 18-year-old man they know only as “Orak.”

Showing a healed wound on her shoulder, the girl said Orak would beat them up if they refused to steal valuables from shoppers. She said Orak would give them P100 as their share of the loot.

The girl said child pickpockets, snatchers and “earring pickers” in Divisoria and Quiapo are under Orak’s command. She said yesterday was the first time she had been arrested.

The other child, a 12-year-old boy, said they usually pass on their loot to other gang members to escape arrest.

Meisic police station chief Superintendent Nelson Yabut said the police are aware of the illegal activities of the youthful thieves, but lamented an existing law that abolished the criminal liability of children 15 years old and below.

“We cannot file charges against these youths. We have to turn them over to the social welfare department. But the problem is these child offenders will return to their old ways after being freed,” Yabut said.

He said they cannot round up child pickpockets since they disguise themselves as plastic bag vendors.

Yabut said he has instructed his men to hunt down the gang’s leader and trainor.