On Feb. 2, 2013, around 4 a.m., the boy-helper of my eldest son sleeping inside his service van was suddenly roused from sleep by a thud. Getting out of the van, which was parked in front of our house, the boy found the windshield of the van shattered by a stone. He also saw a group of teenage boys passing by.
I was told that most of the night, some “trip-crazed” teenage boys from the neighboring Pariñas Street roam around the nearby Las Vegas compound, an informal settlers community. There they create trouble with impunity and make a mockery of the city ordinances on curfew hours, public disturbance, street drinking and noise pollution.
The next day, on my regular trip to Cabanatuan City, I chanced upon a night-time Quezon City police mobile car. On board were P01s Jay Ferran, Ronilo Prepose Jr. and Mark Alcantara to whom I reported the stone-throwing incident. Back home from Cabanatuan, I learned from my wife that the three cops went to our house and made further inquiries about the incident. Showing concern, the three gave my wife their contact numbers in the event we needed police assistance.
My family commends these three courteous young cops for responding to what others would consider a trifling complaint. That is what National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) director Chief Supt. Leonardo Espina expects from the Metro Manila police, according to Quezon City Police District (QCPD) Station 3 commander Michael Macapagal—that they be proactive “so the citizenry would have a sense of security.”
To make us feel more secure and to prevent crimes from happening in our place, the night-shift Station 3 mobile car should patrol our place from time to time. I understand this is also one of the peace and order thrusts of General Espina: enhanced police street presence and visibility.
—FERDINAND M. BIGORNIA,
22 Ofelia St., Bahay Toro Quezon City