Police assistance desks to be set up soon along LRT-1 route

Passengers on the Light Rail Transit System Line 1 (LRT-1) may now report criminal offenses to the police assistance desk that will be set up at various stations along the train route.

According to a report the report on Mark Salazar on Saksi on Wednesday, the Light Rail Manila Corporation (LRMC) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) signed a Memorandum of Agreement aimed to put an end to unwelcome incidents experienced by female LRT-1 passengers.

Under the agreement, each LRT-1 station will have a police assistance desk.

Concerns may also be reported to the additional uniformed personnel who will be patrolling the stations.

According to the LRMC, sensitive incidents like groping often do not reach the police as victims tend to be hesitant in reporting the offense.

"Ang challenge po namin is usually sa mga incidents na iyon is 'yung reporting. A lot of times, 'yung women is hindi sila open or hindi nagsasalita," LRMC president Juan Felipe Alfonso explained.

"Wala kaming exact number but aware kami na nangyayari po siya in some places," he added.

To ensure all LRT-1 passengers can report concerns with ease, female police officers will be manning the help desks.

"In return, the PNP will detail police officers in particular female police officers to designated police assistance desk," Police Superintendent Noel Baraceros from the PNP Center for Public Safety Management said.

In a report by the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), the complaints filed in 2018 include 23 cases of theft, 8 on illegal firearms, and 5 on drugs.

Only one filed a complaint of act os lasciviousness.

The PNP has also tightened security on the rest of Metro Manila's train lines after the deadly bombing of a cathedral in Jolo, Sulu.

Passengers are not allowed to bring liquids on the trains.

"Because of what happened in Mindanao, we don't want to have a spillover dito and we know for a fact na itong liquid bomb ay puwede sa mga tubig,"  NCRPO chief Director Guillermo Eleazar said. — Margaret Claire Layug/BAP, GMA News