President Rodrigo Duterte’s anti-drug war has resulted in lower car theft incidence in Quezon City, police director Guillermo Eleazar said.
Eleazar said car theft incidents went down 90 percent with only four cases recorded in July compared to 40 cases in the same period last year.
“We can now say the city is no longer the carnapping capital,” said Chief Insp. Hector Ortencio, QCPD’s Anti-Carnapping Unit head.
“Compared to other localities in the Metro Manila, the rate of carjacking has gone down this year,” Ortencio added.
Homicide cases went down 25 percent year-on-year, robbery by 47 percent, theft by 39 percent and physical injury by 47 percent, Eleazar said.
“Sometimes, they resort to robbery and theft to sustain their vice. This is a good sign for us since it shows that our efforts versus drugs also affect other related crimes,” Eleazar said in a previous interview.
He, however, lamented that some of their policemen have been killed in recent anti-drug operations.
Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista, for his part, underscored the need to remain vigilant in combating crime.
The city government will be investing P150 million for the capability upgrade of the QCPD and the Bureau of Fire Protection.
The funding shall cover the procurement of additional patrol cars, bullet-proof vests, guns and ammunition, communications equipment, digital cameras and a state-of-the-art suspect identification system.
“Public safety is a 24/7 responsibility and also a constant work-in-progress. The demands never stop, and they are not always predictable,” Bautista added.