Official vows to maintain Manila’s rank as carnap-free city

A Manila police official has vowed to maintain Manila’s status as a carnap-free city despite allegations of irregularities in the performance of his mandated functions.

The Manila Police District’s carnapping cases remain the lowest among the five police districts in Metro Manila, records showed. For the first week of September, only two vehicles were reported stolen but likewise recovered.

MPD director Chief Superintendent Pedro Bulaong has commended the operatives of the Anti-Carnapping Section led by Senior Inspector Leopoldo Mangilinan for maintaining the carnapping crime solution efficiency at the higher level. For three consecutive years, carnapping incidents in Manila had been at the lowest rank among crime incidents in Metro Manila, according to Bulaong.

In spite of the accolades, Mangilinan lamented the recent orchestrated attack against him in the media for his remarks on a "missing" motorcycle earlier seized from a motor shop in the absence of pertinent documents.

According to media reports, Mangilinan did not exert efforts to find the missing motorcycle in his custody, and instead allegedly volunteered to pay for the "lost" vehicle for P25,000.

Mangilinan said that he was misquoted in the reports, saying his remarks that he will pay for the lost motorcycle came only after he clarified that "his men are liable and will be compelled to pay for the unit in case the motorcycle is not found."

"That remark was blown out of proportion, with insinuations that I am tolerating irregularities in my unit," he said, adding the motorcycle was eventually found in the custody of one of his men who has been transferred to another unit during the search.

What puzzled him, according to Mangilinan, is the refusal of the owner to receive the vehicle insisting that some of its parts were missing.

"On the contrary the motorcycle is being repaired at the shop when confiscated, along with several other units, and in the same condition when we returned it to the owner," he said.

Anti-carnapping operatives are directed to seize undocumented motorcycles even in repair shops since these are being used by criminals, according to Mangilinan.