City drive to curb minor offenders on

Friday, October 7, 2011

ILOILO City Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog is starting a comprehensive drive against crime groups in collusion with unscrupulous taxi drivers using minors to peddle in the flesh market.

In a conference attended by representatives of the Association of Taxi Operators in the Philippines (Atop) Iloilo chapter, City Social Welfare and Development (CSWD) office and Iloilo City police chief Marietto Valerio, Mabilog instructed the agencies concerned to unify and coordinate all efforts in curbing criminalities, especially prostitution involving minors.

Have something to report? Tell us in text, photos or videos.

Elizabeth Sevilla of CSWD reported that a house in De la Rama Street in Iloilo City proper is allegedly housing a number of girls picked up by a taxi driver every night and brought to the waterfront area to serve crews of vessels docked at the Muelle Loney.

Atop president Perfecto Yap also said that his driver members reported several minor offenders residing in Barangays Democracia and Tabuc Suba in Jaro district, Nabitasan in La Paz, and Tanza Baybay in the city proper.

The taxi drivers reported that they picked up minor girls in these areas to bring to their customers upon instructions of their gay pimps.

Similarly, most minor offenders reportedly involved in a number of robberies and holdups in the city are notably residing in these areas.

Last year, members of the True Brown Style crime syndicate operating in Iloilo City are mostly minors conducting holdups and robberies even in taxis and business establishments.

Yap said there is an urgent need for the City Government, especially the local police, to identify these areas so that intervening actions might be implemented upon.

Checkpoints must also be conducted regularly so that activities of offenders will be curtailed drastically, he added.

Yap urged the police to conduct a briefing in spotting potential criminals immediately and inform Atop regarding the actions the taxi drivers should take in such situation.