By Ronron
March 16, 2008
The Philippine National Police (PNP) said Sunday that it did not receive a single report of criminal incident in any part of the country at the time Filipino boxing champ Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao and defending World Boxing Council (WBC) Super Featherweight Champion Juan Manuel Marquez fought for almost one hour at the boxing ring in Las Vegas, USA.
PNP spokesman Sr. Supt. Nicanor Bartolome said there was one criminal incident that transpired in Metro Manila but it happened several minutes after Pacquiao was declared the new WBC Super Featherweight Champion via a split decision by the judges.
“In all regions nationwide, we noted a zero-crime rate during the actual fight of Manny Pacquiao,” Bartolome said.
“In NCR (National Capital Region), there was a reported bus robbery/hold-up incident but it happened between 12:30 pm to 1pm,” he added.
The boxing match of Pacquiao and Marquez was viewed and heard in the Philippines starting 11:25 am up to 12:13 pm. The actual event was held at the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada Saturday night, US time.
Event host Michael Buffer officially announced Pacquiao’s victory at 12:16 pm, Philippine time.
Bartolome said regardless of whether the bus robbery incident in NCR happened during or after the fight of Pacquiao and Marquez, this statistics “indicate that there was really a very good situation all over the country.”
“The outpouring of support by the entire nation for the Filipino fighter resulted in zero-crime incident in all regions of the country,” he said.
Based on an initial report from the NCR Police Office (NCRPO), a Genesis passenger bus (TVJ-877) bound for Balanga, Bataan was plying EDSA from Pasay City when eight men aboard it declared a hold-up at around 12:30 pm while it was near Crossing Mall at the corner of Shaw Boulevard in Mandaluyong City.
The suspects were carrying handguns and a hand grenade, prompting passengers to surrender their “valuables.”
The report said one of the suspects fired one handgun in the upward direction during the heist, probably to scare the bus passengers.
Four of the suspects alighted at the corner of EDSA and Main Avenue in Cubao, Quezon City, while the remaining four did the same at the corner of Anonas Road and EDSA near Q-Mart Market.
Elements of the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) Special Weapon and Tactics (SWAT) and from some stations conducted follow up operations against the suspects, while the Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit (CIDU) is conducting investigation on the incident.
The PNP had earlier expected a zero-crime rate in the country during Pacquiao’s bout, similar to past incidents, citing the people’s preoccupation in monitoring the fight on television and radio./DMS
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