Babe's Eye View article

Just when all of us are beginning to get over the stigma brought about by the Quirino Grandstand bus hostage tragedy and the Maguindanao massacre, here comes a new wave of crimes, more like a tsunami of crimes, with the latest carnapping incidents made even more gruesome by the brutal murder of the victims Emerson Lozano and his driver as well as car dealer Venson Evangelista. Once again the Philippines is in the world spotlight with a negative image: that of a crime-ridden country.

While it is true that the PNP has identified the group behind the kidnap-slayings of Lozano and Evangelista and has made some arrests, people are still very weary of the sudden burst of crimes all over the country. There actually have been a number of carnapping incidents that were unreported to media, with the PNP admitting they know the notorious groups behind the carjackings and the areas where they most likely operate. So the perception of most people is here we are once again reacting to a situation instead of being prepared for it.

Quezon City has long been pinpointed as the “carnap capital” of the country because it offers a lot of escape routes to the North particularly in Central Luzon, with road networks like NLEX, SCTEX and various highways that could lead to the outskirts of provinces like Bulacan, Tarlac, Pampanga, Nueva Ecija and even to Aurora. Knowing that, the PNP’s Highway Patrol Group should coordinate with toll operators to be on the look-out for hot or stolen vehicles. The police should have also thought a long time ago about installing CCTV cameras on these expressway tollgates for faster identification of stolen cars as well as the people involved in carnapping cases and not wait after the carnap-slayings of Evangelista and Lozano have become highly publicized. Such belated, reactive actions only reinforce the perception people have about police arriving at the crime scene after all the dust has settled as so often seen in movies.

It appears authorities have already pinpointed the “chop-chop” dealers suspected of selling stolen vehicle parts yet they have not been able to apprehend those people obviously conniving with carnappers. There’s very little comfort in the HPG telling us the number of stolen vehicles is lower than last year, with “only” 31 reported stolen so far from January 1 to 19 this year which means an average of almost two vehicles stolen every day.

Obviously, the PNP needs a lot of help to be able to cope with the crime tsunami. Aside from asking for more funds, Executive Secretary Jojo Ochoa may want to consider certifying an urgent bill to reorganize and overhaul the PNP ranks and give them enough money to finally get rid of the scalawags in uniform who are involved in kidnapping, rape, murder, bank robbery, extortion and other crimes. Congress should allocate once and for all a substantial budget for the logistics, training and augmentation of our police forces. It’s been clearly established the PNP is undermanned, with a little over 130,000 policemen for a population of 100 million Filipinos (and still rapidly growing). So how can we expect one policeman to effectively secure or protect close to 1,000 people at any given time? Admittedly, the PNP does not also have enough personnel to deploy for additional checkpoints, and more importantly, they lack high-powered guns to go after criminals armed with Armalites, AK-47s and other high-powered firearms. Let’s give them everything they need so there will be no more excuses!

But aside from additional budget and resources, lawmakers should immediately consider the proposal of PNP chief Gen. Raul Bacalzo to make carnapping a non-bailable offense. There have been many cases where suspected carnap syndicate leaders were allowed to post bail leaving them free to resume their operations. Malabon Congresswoman Josephine Lacson-Noel is endorsing the proposal to make carnapping a non-bailable offense, knowing fully well how frustrating it can be for policemen to see notorious criminals getting out of jail faster than it takes to get them behind bars.

With the advent of high technology equipment, the Philippines should start looking at what they do in big cities like New York and London in crime prevention. For private individuals there are simple gadgets that can help deter carnapping like the steering wheel lock and the car alarm. In many countries, technology plays a big part in preventing carnapping like the use of GPS to pinpoint the location of a stolen vehicle. Then there is this new simple device placed under the dash that can stop the engine from starting by remotely disabling the starter with the use of a cellphone. Some angry people are even suggesting a device that can remotely blow up the car with the carnappers in it.

Aside from carnapping and kidnapping, other big time crime syndicates that are operating in the country are drug dealers and with it the gruesome crimes committed by people with drug-crazed criminal minds. In Mexico, the drug cartels have become so powerful that the Mexican government has called in the armed forces in the “drug war.” More than 33,000 have been killed in drug-related murders from 2006-2010, with some casualties being mayors, police officials, lawyers and other individuals actively fighting drug groups.

These Mexican drug organizations have become so wealthy and powerful that politicians and policemen are now in their payroll. With our population growing rapidly, we should not pay too much attention to jueteng and other petty crimes instead we should focus on seriously strengthening our police forces to fight the evil out there before our country drowns in a tsunami of crimes.