MANILA, Philippines - Authorities are zeroing in on protectors or cohorts in the government of alleged carjack ring leader Raymond Dominguez, including individuals involved in the registration of stolen vehicles.
Dominguez, whose group is suspected to be responsible for the murder of car dealer Venson Evangelista and possibly another trader, Emerson Lozano, surrendered to the Bulacan police on Saturday night, saying he feared for his life. He was placed under arrest yesterday by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG).
Dominguez was brought to the Quezon City Prosecutor’s Office last night and underwent inquest proceedings on charges of carjacking and kidnapping with homicide filed by the police.
Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo said they were zeroing in on the suspected protectors.
“We need a thorough investigation to know the connections of Dominguez and his cohorts with those from government agencies. Carnapping will not become a big trade if there are no people who register (stolen vehicles), if there are no others in cahoots to make this business flourish,” he said.
“That is what Secretary Robredo is doing now… Was there something beneath the surface that needs to be investigated even more – all of those, I think, Secretary Robredo said that they are undertaking now,” Presidential Communications Development Secretary Ricky Carandang said in a briefing.
Robredo said he was informed that Dominguez was facing not just 19 but 31 charges, 20 of which were for car theft.
“There was also a case where he was allowed to post bail even if the offense was not bailable,” Robredo noted.
Carandang said it would be up to the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) to determine why Dominguez was allowed to get out of jail despite being charged repeatedly.
He said President Aquino had expressed support for tougher laws against carjacking, such as making the offense non-bailable.
The President said car theft could be linked to other crimes like kidnapping and holdups.
“If increasing the penalties will serve as a deterrent, then it’s certainly something that we hope Congress will consider. On the other hand, as you saw just this morning, Secretary Robredo is talking about measures that are being taken right now to help resolve some of these high profile carjacking incidents. So these are two tracks – the deterrents and then there is a solution part,” Carandang said.
Robredo said he had tried computing the money that Dominguez could have spent so far for his temporary liberty, which could have reached millions.
No such thing as ‘protective custody’
He also clarified that Dominguez was being considered a suspect and is not under “protective custody” of the police due to threats to his life, adding that the latter would have to be jailed after charges were filed against him in connection with the Lozano-Evangelista killings.
Asked about his comment on the way the Bulacan police treated Dominguez, Robredo said “it is not the job of the Bulacan police to take care of his security.”
“He (Dominguez) is there because he has a case. Let us correct the perception that he is there for us to guard him, he is there because he is being accused of crimes,” he said, adding that there was a “misimpression” that Dominguez was being protected instead of being investigated.
No destabilization efforts
Robredo also ruled out any destabilization attempt against the Aquino administration using the recent carjacking incidents.
“As of now the carjacking incidents and murders of the car traders were considered isolated,” he said, emphasizing that they were not prepared to declare that the cases had been solved, especially since the motive of the killings had yet to be established.
He, however, pointed out that it is inappropriate to call the seemingly increasing spate of carjackings as a “crime wave” because “crime statistics will tell you that we’re better in 2010 than in 2009.”
“We would like to assure the public that the police authorities are doing the best that they can just to make sure that we will not only arrest the perpetrators, but at the same time prevent this from happening again,” he said.
A government prosecutor who refused to be identified agreed with Robredo that there is no such thing as protective custody.
He said, “It’s either you are arrested or you surrendered.”
Inquest proceeding on alleged ring leader
Dominguez arrived handcuffed at the QC fiscal’s office around 7:30 p.m., heavily guarded and accompanied by lawyer Raymund Palad, but the proceedings took quite some time.
The alleged ring leader was clad in a black shirt, black shorts and slippers and appeared restless as he waited for inquest fiscal Solivan Usman.
Palad questioned the inquest proceeding, saying the setup was only applicable in cases when the supposed crime has just been committed.
“We find it highly irregular. How can you say this is inquest when this has been long after the commission of the crime,” he said.
But Superintendent Antonio Yarra, chief of the Quezon City Police District-Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit, said this supposed reglamentary period was not applicable since Dominguez had “voluntarily surrendered” himself to the police.
Dominguez turned himself over to the Bulacan police over the weekend for “protective custody” after he was tagged by suspects Alfredo Mendiola and Ferdinand Parulan as the alleged mastermind in the abduction and murder of Evangelista.
Mendiola and Parulan, who surrendered to the police last week, underwent inquest proceedings over the weekend on charges of murder and car theft.
Aside from Dominguez and his brother Roger, Mendiola and Parulan also pointed to a certain Jason, an alias Rolly who was said to be the gunman in the killing, a certain Joel and two others.
Roger, on the other hand, had sent feelers that he also wanted to give himself up, according to Central Luzon police director Chief Superintendent Alan Purisima.
Purisima said he had been receiving text messages from Roger since Saturday but it was not clear when the surrender would take place.
NBI looks into carjacking, murder cases
Meanwhile, National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Magtanggol Gatdula said it is not yet clear if the carjacking syndicate behind the murders of Evangelista and Lozano was also the perpetrator in the killing of Baywalk Body member Rejoice Rivera.
The NBI has started a parallel probe on the murder of Rivera, whose body was found on Dec. 31 in Bulacan, and the Lozano-Evangelista twin murders.
Rivera’s mother Nieves Santos recently attended the meeting between the NBI and police representatives regarding Rivera’s case, together with the carnapping and murder cases of Lozano and Evangelista.
Santos earlier claimed that her daughter’s death was connected to the cases of the two car dealers
However, Zamora and other NBI officials declined to confirm or deny this. – With Non Alquitran, Cecille Suerte Felipe, Reinir Padua, Jerry Botial, Sandy Araneta, Perseus Echeminada, Raffy Viray, Ric Sapnu, Dino Balabo