So safe the gates are closed
Public roads with closing times. In Makati. Perhaps the closed gates are merely precautionary. But when a barangay restricts nighttime access, it is reasonable to ask what the problem is.
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Public roads with closing times. In Makati. Perhaps the closed gates are merely precautionary. But when a barangay restricts nighttime access, it is reasonable to ask what the problem is.
The Makati police say there is no crime wave, that the city remains safe, and that recent crime incidents were isolated. Perhaps. But if Makati is so safe, somebody should explain why parts of the city increasingly behave as though they are not.
For months, residents have complained of motorcycle-riding snatchers and robbers. In fact, the DAILY TRIBUNE formally wrote to the Makati police earlier this year about the reported rise in such incidents.
While we received no official response, the streets have been doing the answering.
On 17 April, two men grabbed a TNVS rider’s motorcycle on Ibarra Street in Barangay Palanan. Police identified a person of interest with a previous carnapping case. The victim’s family said an e-trike had also been stolen in the area the previous year.
On 9 June, a suspected member of a so-called “dura-dura” gang was arrested after two passengers on a bus on Gil Puyat Avenue near Dian Street were robbed of phones worth P56,000 and P50,000.
On 13 July, police encountered two alleged motorcycle-riding robbers in Makati. One was killed and the other wounded in the encounter, according to TV5.
On 22 August, three armed men on two motorcycles robbed a condominium resident near Perea Street and Paseo de Roxas in Legazpi Village. Makati police were notified of the incident.
Five days later, the Makati police chief called it an “isolated case” and asserted, “Makati remains safe.”
On 3 September, three suspects were arrested after an alleged robbery attempt involving a P300,000 cellphone transaction on Amorsolo Street. Police recovered two firearms, assorted license plates, mobile phones and suspected shabu.
Then, on 24 September, two motorcycle-riding gunmen ambushed a female condominium manager on Chino Roces Avenue shortly before 7 a.m., shooting her in the leg and thigh. Witnesses said the suspects were wearing Move It uniforms.
And there was another incident this month that did not make the police blotter, as far as we know. A motorcycle-riding robber attempted to snatch the bags of two women walking along Florida Street — directly in front of the DAILY TRIBUNE office.
That last incident may be the most revealing of all.
Because the attempt failed, nobody lost a bag. But there was an incident. Two women were targeted by a motorcycle-riding robber in broad daylight. Would that appear in the official crime statistics?
Not if nobody reported it. And therein lies the nagging question: What if the crime numbers are right and still wrong?
Police statistics count the crimes reported to police. They do not necessarily count attempted snatchings, near-misses, incidents reported only to barangay officials or private security, or victims who decide that filing a complaint is more trouble than it is worth.
There is another curious piece of evidence.
Barangay Palanan has been closing most of its street gates from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m., only leaving open designated entry and exit points like the one at Bautista Street corner Gil Puyat. A hospital in the barangay has issued advisories about the closures, while residents have complained about the inconvenience.
Public roads with closing times. In Makati. Perhaps the closed gates are merely precautionary. But when a barangay restricts nighttime access, it is reasonable to ask what the problem is.
And Palanan’s location makes the question more interesting. The barangay sits near the boundaries of Makati, Manila and Pasay. But criminals do not care about city borders, they simply ride across them.
Yes, the police may eventually produce statistics showing that Makati’s crime rate has not significantly increased. Good. Let them.
Still, safety is not merely a number on a spreadsheet. It is whether people feel secure walking home, whether barangays block their streets at night, and whether victims believe reporting an attempted crime will accomplish anything.
The DAILY TRIBUNE asked the police months ago. Nobody answered. Then the street answered — right outside our office. So much for police visibility, the lack of which — stationary or on patrol — embolden criminals to strike.
