By Mary Judaline Partlow/PNA
DUMAGUETE CITY — The Provincial Highway Patrol Team (PHPT) in Negros Oriental will assist the Commission on Elections (Comelec) in checkpoints during the entire election period.
Senior Insp. Silvestre Cenia, Jr., PHPT provincial chief, on Tuesday clarified that while the mandate of the Philippine National Police-Highway Patrol Group (PNP-HPG) primarily covers crimes committed along the national highway, it is not limited to such task.
“Karon nga election period na, maka-operate kami kauban nila ug joint (Now that it’s election period, we can jointly operate with them),” he said, referring to the Comelec-PNP-Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) joint checkpoints.
During the election period, the poll body has under its operational control the PNP and the AFP and checkpoints are to be led by the former.
Cenia pointed out that while they at the PHPT are more concerned with crimes, such as car theft and traffic violations, they also have the authority to arrest a person found to be violating the Comelec gun ban and other laws against criminality.
He went on to say that they will continue conducting roadside operations against traffic laws, to include the mandatory wearing of helmets by motorcycle drivers and riders.
Meanwhile, the PHPT is closely monitoring some “personalities” believed to be involved in car and motorcycle thefts in the province.
Last Thursday, the team arrested Arthur Almoro Austria Sr., the seventh most wanted car thief in Negros Oriental, while serving a warrant of arrest in Purok Idamint, Idaville Subdivision in Minglanilla, Cebu.
According to Cenia, the suspect is also the 15th Most Wanted in Cebu.
The PHPT head disclosed that the case against Austria stemmed from the complaint of an owner of a motorcycle-for-rent shop here that sometime in 2016, the suspect rented a unit but did not return it.
The suspect, according to Cenia, claimed he turned over the motorcycle to his trustee, but the latter apparently did not return it to the owner.
