10 suspected pickpockets nabbed at Manila Cathedral

MANILA, Philippines - The Manila Police District (MPD) nabbed 10 suspected pickpockets, including a14-year-old boy and five women, who were observed mingling with mourners at the Manila Cathedral in Intramuros, Manila yesterday.

Plainclothes police officers, led by Chief Inspector Edgar Carpio, were among the 1,000 policemen deployed around the vicinity of the church for the past 24 hours.

Carpio said the policemen held photos of criminals and suspected criminals as they watched over the lines of mourners. They approached their target personalities and pulled them out of the lines.   

Police are set to charge the suspected criminals – Willy Santos, 29; Gabriel Santos, 29; Joey Rivera, 26; Jane Gonzales, 26; Clarissa Magkalas; Mylene Losaynon, 31; Rizza Salinas, 27; Luisa Santos, 26; and Melissa Santos, 30 – with vagrancy. The boy was turned over to the social welfare personnel. “This is the police’s preemptive measure of securing the public from criminal elements. These people who have previous brush with the law may have the pure intent of paying their respects to (the late former President Corazon) Aquino, but we cannot compromise the security and safety of the public,” Carpio told The STAR.

Police said they noticed the suspected criminals kept on mingling with the mourners, even after they viewed Aquino’s remains.

Carpio is inviting mourners who had been victimized by pickpockets to come to the MPD headquarters for identification of the suspects. – Nestor Etolle