Cops urge victims to file raps vs stall owners selling stolen phones

Last Jan. 14, a TV reporter got the shock of her life when she saw her mobile phone on display at a stall of a shopping center in San Juan, just a few hours after it was stolen.

While she wasn’t able to get back her old phone, ABC-5 reporter Ma. Theresa Andrada was given a replacement unit after police intervened.

The story could have ended there, but Andrada later found out that the "replacement" actually belonged to a fellow reporter, who had also lost his unit to robbers.

Metro police chief Director Vidal Querol is now convincing Andrada to file formal complaints against owners of two stalls in Greenhills so appropriate charges can be filed against them.

Querol lamented that the failure of complainants to file charges only emboldens erring traders to buy stolen goods, which they later sell to unsuspecting customers.

"Dapat mag-file si Ms. Andrada ng kaso para matigil na ang ganitong klaseng negosyo," Querol said.

He has also arranged a meeting with stall owners at the Greenhills shopping center to discuss the problem of buying stolen goods.

Andrada, 27, of Quezon City, told police that her PDA phone, an O2 XDA II, was stolen at the Metrowalk Mall in Pasig City last Saturday.

The reporter said she proceeded to the Greenhills shopping center several hours later to buy another cell phone.

Andrada was stunned when she saw her PDA phone on display at Stall V-9.

Stall owner Abdulmalik Basher, 24, claimed he acquired the phone for P6,000 hours earlier.

An O2 XDA II costs more than P30,000.

Andrada then sought the assistance of Superintendent Rodelio Jocson, San Juan police chief, and went back to Basher’s stall.

However, the phone was no longer on the display counter.

A party-list congressman from Mindanao, reportedly an uncle of Basher, intervened and Andrada got back a similar unit, but not after shelling out P4,000.

The congressman agreed to shoulder P2,000 of the P6,000 Basher had demanded for the turnover of the unit.

When she got home, Andrada called up friends and was informed by fellow reporter Jason Torres that her "new" phone was his O2 XDA II, which was also stolen.

Torres had asked Andrada to check the phone’s identification number, or IMEI. Upon checking the back of the unit, she found out that the number matched that of Torres’ stolen PDA phone.

TV network ABC-5 issues said PDA phones to reporters and ranking employees.

The following day, Torres went to the Greenhills shopping center and saw Andrada’s PDA phone on display at Stall 118 owned by Kalic Sarip, 26.

Torres called up Andrada and, together with Jocson’s men, proceeded to the stall and confiscated the PDA phone.

Sarip and Basher were invited to the San Juan police headquarters for questioning.

Jocson said the lawyers of Andrada and Torres have promised to file charges against Basher and Sarip.

As of yesterday, no charges have been filed.

Jocson said stall owners have in the past vowed not to deal in stolen goods.

"The traders agreed not to buy cell phones unless they come with proof of ownership, but it seems that some of them have not been complying with the agreement," the police chief said.