Soria, a former officer of the Traffic Management Group (TMG), said they have identified two groups operating in this city and have marked an imaginary triangular area, a virtual danger zone for car owners, where the groups have been known to conduct their illegal activities.
"It's an area bounded by McArthur Highway and the Jose Abad Santos Avenue (formerly the Gapan-Olongapo-San Fernando road)," he said.
The area covers the city business district of Dolores where two Mitsubishi Pajeros were stolen within two weeks since January 13.
The two victims were both residents and businessmen of the city. The first victim loss her car while parked near a bank in Dolores, a few hundred meters from the police station at the corner of McArthur and Jasa.
The second victim's car was stolen while parked at the San Fernandino Hospital, roughly one kilometer away from the same police station.
The carjacking incidents had alarmed traders, prompting them to urge the Philippine National Police (PNP) to step up their anti-carjacking campaign.
The police had since deployed checkpoints in key exit points in the city.
Central Luzon ranks third nationwide in car thefts recorded in the last nine years, from 1999 to 2007, after Quezon City and Region 4.
Carjacking cases dropped significantly by 44 percent nationwide and by 28 percent in the region last year when compared with the previous year's level.
Businessmen have expressed fear that the January incidents could indicate a possible resurgence of carjacking activities in the city.
Sources said car thieves in Metro Manila and other Central Luzon provinces, particularly Tarlac and Nueva Ecija, have shifted their operations in Central Luzon
As this developed, Superintendent Francisco Villanueva, newly-assigned director of TMG in Central Luzon, revealed that at least three carjacking groups are operating Pampanga.
"They are operating in San Fernando, Angeles City and Magalang," Villanueva said.
He added that groups know each other and could be operating collectively.
Meanwhile, Gregorio Lim, deputy director of the Pampanga Police Office, said more uniformed policemen will be fielded in the streets to deter carjackers and other criminal elements in the city. (RGN)
