PNP warns against petty thieves from Manila

Officers of the Police Regional Office (PRO) in Central Visayas are on their toes for the possibility that the petty thieves who were busy during the Black Nazarene feast in Manila will target Sinulog revelers in Cebu City on Sunday.

Chief Supt. Noli Taliño, PRO 7 director, said they are leveling up their security preparations as the festival draws near.

For his part, Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) Director Joel Doria has directed his 11 police station commanders and the intelligence chief to coordinate with the lodging houses, inns, motels, hotels and pension houses, so they can check the background of the suspicious-looking clients.

In January last year, after the Black Nazerene feast, the CCPO’s Theft and Robbery Section caught nine suspected pickpockets from Manila, Taguig City, Makati City and Pasay City.

They arrived in Cebu City three days before the Sinulog and stayed inside the two rooms of an inn in Cebu City’s North Reclamation Area.

Seized from their possession were assorted wallets, ATM cards, identification cards, students’ subject load cards, passenger ship receipts, money transfer firm receipts and pictures.

Taliño said they have not recently monitored “imminent and specific” threats.

“The threat, however, is always there. We all should—not just the police; not the just AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines)—be alert,” said Taliño in Tagalog.

Taliño led a command conference yesterday for the festivities and the police included in their discussions the idea of cutting communication systems off through a signal jammer to prevent a bombing by cell phone.

Police officials urged the public to stay vigilant and report to the nearest police station any suspicious-looking person.