Cards set to stop CL hijacks

By George Trillo

SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga – The regional police is set to impose soon “pass cards” (PC) on cargo trucks entering and leaving any point in the region amid growing cases of truck hijacking in Central Luzon.

This move was arrived at following an anti-hijacking summit held Tuesday between the police’s regional highway patrol unit and some 400 businessmen engaged in cargo transport in Central Luzon.

The summit was also attended by provincial and city police directors from all over the region.
Regional highway patrol chief Senior Supt. Edgardo Tinio said all participants in the summit supported the proposal for a “strict implementation” of the pass card project as a measure against hijackers.

He noted that last year, some P5.7 million worth of various commodities were lost to hijackers who commandeered cargo trucks which were later found empty in areas where they were abandoned.

Central Luzon police director Chief Supt. Arturo Cacdac said that issuance of pass cards would enable policemen to monitor the movements of cargo trucks plying routes within his region.

Under the project, drivers of cargo trucks would be required to get a pass card from the police in the first town of the province they enter.

They would be required to surrender the card to the police in the last town before exiting the province.

The same procedure would be repeated in every province to be traversed by the cargo truck.

But Tinio said that arising from limitations of resources, the project could be implemented only along major routes, including the Maharlika road and the MacArthur highway, and not along secondary routes. 

Tinio also asked cargo transport businessmen to avail themselves of modern technology through the use of the Global Positioning System (GPS) which could be discreetly installed in their trucks to enable them to be monitored during their travel.