LTO pursues investigation vs Mindanao transport executives

MANILA, Philippines -  The license plates found on the stolen vehicle of car dealer Venson Evangelista were from a vehicle of the same make and color registered in Davao City.

The Toyota Land Cruiser that Evangelista was selling at the time of his abduction was registered with license plate number NAI-316.

The vehicle was recovered by the police at the parking lot of a motel in Mandaluyong City last week, its plates replaced with LGF-392.

Land Transportation Office (LTO) executive director Redentor Reyes said that the plate number LGF-392 has been traced to another Toyota Land Cruiser that was registered in Davao City.

Reyes noted both vehicles were of the same model and color.

He said the color of the Land Cruiser registered in Davao City was metallic gray. The color of the Land Cruiser that Evangelista was selling at the time of his abduction was charcoal metallic gray.

Chief Inspector Rodelio Marcelo, deputy chief of the Quezon City Police District’s Anti-Carnapping Unit, said carjackers use this method to confuse the police.

Marcelo said that at face value and without further verification, the license plates attached to the stolen vehicle would initially match with LTO records since they have the same type of vehicle model and color.

This would give the stolen vehicle a “semblance of legitimacy” and would conceal it from law enforcers who had been alerted to track down the carjacked vehicle, Marcelo said.

Reyes ordered the LTO district office in Davao City to submit a report on the registration records of the Land Cruiser where the license plates LGF-392 were originally attached.

“We’d like to know these details so we could provide the police with whatever information they might need in their investigation,” Reyes said.

Reyes said their records showed the plate number LGF-392 and the Land Cruiser in Davao City are legitimate but could not explain how the license plates ended up attached to Evangelista’s SUV.

Reyes said it was up to the police to look into this matter.

A special investigation task group headed by Chief Superintendent Benito Estipona Jr. has been formed to look into the twin murders of Evangelista and fellow car dealer Emerson Lozano.

Suspected carjack gang leader Roger Dominguez and his companion Jayson Miranda were arrested last Thursday for a simple traffic violation after Dominguez counterflowed in traffic while driving a Mitsubishi Outlander along Timog Avenue.

Policemen were later able to retrieve Evangelista’s Land Cruiser at a parking lot of a motel in Mandaluyong City where Dominguez and Miranda had stayed.

While the SUV had a different plate number, its chassis number remained the same. Added to this, Evangelista’s father Arsenio had a spare key of the SUV and was able to open the vehicle when it was presented by the lawmen during the raid.

Inside the vehicle, the police found a parking ticket from Greenbelt 1 shopping mall in Ayala Center.

The ticket bore the plate number of the Mitsubishi Outlander that Roger was driving when he was arrested.

Roger’s younger brother Raymond earlier turned himself in to police after being implicated in the murder of Evangelista.

Roger will join Raymond in the charges for Evangelista’s death.

The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) added they would revive the pending drug charges against Raymond.

PDEA Director General Jose Gutierrez Jr. said Raymond was charged for possession of dangerous drugs at the Malolos City Regional Trial Court in Bulacan.

Gutierrez said the case against Raymond remained pending for two years because the hearings were frequently postponed and rescheduled due to the failure of the witnesses to attend.

The LTO, on the other hand, has submitted to the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) a list of 14 personnel involved in registering stolen vehicles.

LTO chief Virginia Torres, however, did not elaborate on the list, citing an ongoing investigation.

Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo said the joint DILG-Department of Justice (DOJ) task force has also identified the personalities linked to the carjacking syndicates.

Robredo, however, asked for more time in the effort to unmask the top government officials supposedly acting as protectors of carjacking syndicates. – With Cecille Suerte Felipe