TO lower the incidence of motorcycle theft, the Quezon City Police District on Monday urged the 36-member City Council to pass an ordinance requiring commercial establishments to put up motorcycle racks in their parking areas.
Sr. Supt. Ramon Pranada, QCPD deputy district director for operations, said the proposed measure could help bring down the number of thefts if businesses could provide such fixtures to ensure that owners could secure their motorbikes.
“A motorcycle left unlocked at a parking area is usually the main cause of such theft,” Pranada said.
The proposal was raised during the recent meeting of the Quezon City Peace and Order Council after it was revealed that intensified police visibility resulted in a decline in crime incidence in the city.
Motorcycle theft cases have dropped to 91 from January to April 2017, compared to 150 from January to April 2016.
During the council meeting, QCPD Chief Supt. Guillermo Eleazar said crime in the city has dropped by 28 percent.
Of the eight major crimes—murder, homicide, theft, physical injuries, rape, robbery, carnapping and motorcycle theft—physical injuries, robbery and theft are the most prevalent, Eleazar added.
“We have concentrated our efforts to bring down the cases of the three index crimes that constitute 60 percent of the total crime index,” he noted.
Based on a weekly monitoring and assessment, the eight major crimes have a direct effect on the peace and order situation in the city.
“It is notable that rape cases have also declined in number. Most often than not, our suspects here are those who use drugs,” Eleazar said.
Meanwhile, the City Council has passed a resolution urging the city government and the Department of Education to include lessons on dangerous drugs in the curriculum of public and private schools in Quezon City.
According to Councilor Julienne Alyson Rae V. Medalla, author of Resolution 7025-2017, the measure complies with the policy of the State “to protect the integrity and well-being of all Filipinos, particularly of the youth, from the harmful effects of illegal drugs.”
Further, the resolution aims to highlight the importance of instituting the provisions of the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 to safeguard the well-being of the youth.
Section 42, Article IV of Republic Act No. 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 mandates that all elementary, secondary, and tertiary schools’ student councils and campus organizations “shall include in their activities a program for the prevention of and deterrence in the use of dangerous drugs, and referral for treatment and rehabilitation of students for drug dependence.”
Section 43 states that drug abuse prevention and control “shall be integrated in the elementary, secondary and tertiary curricula of all public and private schools, whether general, technical, vocational or agro-industrial as well as in non-formal, informal and indigenous learning systems.”