Tuesday, January 29, 2008 Traders alarmed by 'carjacking' in San Fernando
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO -- Businessmen here are alarmed over the apparent resurgence of carjacking activities in this capital city and have renewed their appeal to police authorities to intensify their effort against car thieves.
This developed as another trader lost his vehicle to car thieves, the second in a span of two weeks, while parked near a local hospital.
The victim, Ronaldo Nonato Cortes, owner of Cortes Trading, lost his Mitsubishi Pajero model 2005 bearing license plate XMB- 623 while parked in front of the St. Fernandino Hospital along McArthur Highway in the business central district Dolores.
In his report to the police, Cortes said he parked and left his vehicle in front of the hospital to visit his confined mother at 8 p.m. last January 24. When he returned to the parking lot three hours later, the victim said his vehicle was no longer there.
The hospital where the car theft took place was only a kilometer away from the police station at the intersection of McArthur Highway and Jose Abad Santos Avenue.
Last January 13, another trader lost her Pajero vehicle in the same business district while parked in front of a restaurant only a few hundred meters away from the police station.
The victim, Lilian Basilio, also a resident here, told police that her vehicle, which was equipped with anti-burglary alarm and a steering wheel lock, was stolen at 8 p.m. She also lost a computer laptop and other valuables.
Almost at the same time, another unidentified trader in Angeles reported the loss to carjackers of a Nissan Patrol Safari sports utility vehicle.
Earlier, the police here had been urged by motorists and car owners to step up their anti-carjacking operation following the above-mentioned incidents.
"The police have to continue their vigilance and visibility and, if necessary, should be more aggressive in their campaign against car thieves which appear to be active in the province," the concerned sectors said.
Central Luzon ranks third in recorded carjacking cases in the country, next to Quezon City and Southern Tagalog. The region recorded 596 carjacking cases or an average of 66 cars per year or five cars a month.
Quezon City led with 1,443 cases while Region 4 was second with 818 cases.
Last year, carjacking incidents nationwide dropped by 44 percent while those in Central Luzon decreased by 28 percent.
