Department of the Interior and Local Government Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. on Friday showed his support and expressed optimism over the efforts of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Land Transportation Office (LTO) in coming up with interconnectivity of their information and communications technology (ICT) system.

In a statement, Abalos said that there are about 30,000 cases of motorcycle theft in the country each year as he stressed the importance of the partnership between the PNP and LTO in addressing this issue.

He also explained that the combined efforts of the PNP and LTO to curb, if not eliminate, motorcycle theft, will surely drop the number of incidents.

According to Abalos, unlike before, it takes a month or so to verify the records of a stolen vehicle.

But with the latest engagement of the two agencies, the PNP-Highway Patrol Group (HPG) can easily trace and verify the record of a stolen motorcycle or vehicle through the LTO’s ICT system.

Abalos also instructed the fielding of police officers from the PNP-HPG at the LTO Command Center to speed up the verification process.

He added that a technical working group is also formed to enhance the interconnectivity of the two agencies.