Actor says truck no longer his

Action star Ian Veneracion has clarified the black Dodge pick-up truck, which yielded an unlicensed revolver and led to the arrest of rap star John Rendez in Ermita, Manila, is no longer his.

Veneracion said he sold the pick-up to Car Exchange, a car dealership in Timog, Quezon City, last March.

"I sold the truck to Car Exchange in Timog last March. It was also there were I bought the pick-up. I only learned later that is was bought by John Rendez," Veneracion said in a phone interview with The STAR.

Veneracion made the clarification to dispel rumors that the unlicensed caliber .38 revolver found at the backseat of the truck was his.

Rendez, who was once romantically linked to superstar Nora Aunor, was arrested with companion Robert Regala, 42, by two patrolling policemen in front of the Maxim’s Tea House along M.H. del Pilar Street at about 2:30 a.m.

The Western Police District Intelligence and Investigation Division (WPD-DIID) were tipped by a watch-your-car boy who saw a gun inside Rendez’s pick-up truck, a black Dodge Ram 4x4 (UFF-968).

When the officers demanded to see the gun’s license and permit to carry, Rendez said he was unaware that a gun was inside the truck, which he claimed was borrowed by Aunor from Veneracion.

Rendez said he used the truck to run an errand for the actress somewhere in Ermita. While the two police officers were questioning Rendez, Regala allegedly threw away a small plastic sachet. It later turned out to be a sachet containing three grams of shabu.