Mall owners warn vendors vs selling stolen cell phones

The management of a shopping center in San Juan warned some 100 Muslim vendors yesterday of being "blacklisted" if they are caught buying and selling stolen cellular phones.

Joey Santos, general manager of the Greenhills shopping center, said he will not hesitate to "end the relationship with misbehaving stall owners" should an incident similar to the one experienced by a reporter take place in their premises.

Over the weekend, two O2 XDA II PDA phones stolen from two ABC-5 reporters turned up at the display counters of stalls owned by Muslim traders.

Santos asked Muslim vendors to be extra cautious in buying second-hand phones and check documentation to prevent the establishment from being embarrassed.

Superintendent Rodelio Jocson, San Juan police chief, said Santos warned traders they would immediately be kicked out and banned should the incident happen again.

The victims, however, have failed to file charges against the two stall owners, which caught the attention of Metro police chief Director Vidal Querol.

Querol said he would try to convince the reporters to file charges so as not to embolden other traders from buying and selling stolen cell phones.

Jocson and Chief Superintendent Oscar Valenzuela, director of the Eastern Police District, met yesterday with 100 Muslim traders to prevent the repeat of the incident.

The San Juan police chief explained that management, police and vendors have a standing agreement against the buying and selling of stolen cell phones. The meeting held at the shopping center conference room was to remind vendors of the agreement.

Valenzuela warned the traders that his command would conduct anti-fencing operations not only at the Greenhills shopping center, but also in other establishments.

The EPD chief ordered his chief of staff, Senior Superintendent Federico Laciste Jr., to spearhead the effort.

Valenzuela was joined in the meeting by Senior Superintendent Arthur Envento, his deputy for operations; Chief Inspector Ben Feliciano, EPD intelligence chief; lawyer Roque Merdegia Jr.; and Senior Inspector Mike Villaespana, Greenhills PCP commander.

For their part, the vendors vowed to police their ranks and promised to follow necessary procedures in buying second-hand cell phones.

"Ayaw naming ma-blacklist dahil ito lang ang pagkabuhayan namin," they told Valenzuela.

Lawyer Rex Panumpang, of the Muslim Traders Association Council of Elders, said the incident was an "isolated case" as he urged the vendors to strictly observe their earlier agreement with Jocson and the EPD.

"We should follow the rules not only to protect our business, but ourselves as well," Panumpang said.

Jocson said traders Abdulmalik Basher and Kalic Sarip, from whose stalls the stolen PDAs were recovered, failed to attend the gathering.

Santos said they are still conducting an investigation to determine the fate of the two traders.