Aglipay tells criminals: Stay home

"Stay at home."

This was the advice of Metro Manila police chief Director Aglipay to petty criminals like muggers, snatchers, pickpockets, holdup men cellphone snatchers and indulging vagrants.

If petty criminals wants to spend the Yuletide season with their families and not in jail, Aglipay said they should think twice before pulling off a job in malls and commercial centers in Metro Manila.

"We have enough policemen in the streets and guarding malls and commercial establishments so there’s no way they can strike without them getting caught," said Aglipay. "They better stay home and be with their families."

In past years, hundreds of petty criminals were rounded up by policemen in malls and commercial establishments for committing crimes during the Yuletide season.

Because of the present economic crisis, the number is expected to rise but Aglipay is quick to act to prevent the situation from going out of hand.

But just the same, Aglipay, anticipating the problem, deployed 30-footer vans in malls and commercial establishments in Metro Manila to their crews to investigate and process perpetrators of petty crimes before turning them over to the nearest police headquarters.

The vans will be deployed in Divisoria, Recto, and Rizal Ave., in Manila; Baclaran and Sucat in Parañaque City; Ortigas in the tri-boundary of Quezon City, Pasig City and Mandaluyong City; Cubao in Quezon City; Monumento in Caloocan City and Ayala Avenue, in Makati City.

"The vans will also serve as temporary jails so as not to clog detention centers housing hardened criminals," said Aglipay.

Aglipay also directed the five police district directors to monitor the movements of suspected petty criminals so they can be apprehended before they could strike. "I strongly believe that our intelligence people know them already so we should arrest them before they could pull off a job," said Aglipay. – Non Alquitran