MPD nabs alleged fence of P.5-million stolen soya shipment

MANILA, Philippines - The Manila police invited for questioning a woman who allegedly bought part of P500,000 worth of imported soya beans earlier reported as hijacked while on its way to its designated buyer in Pampanga last Nov. 18.

Chief Inspector Edgardo Carpio, chief of the Manila Police District’s theft and robbery section, said Cristina Salvador of Sta. Rita, Pampanga was identified by three arrested suspects as one of the buyers of the hijacked cargo.

After investigation, Salvador was turned over to the custody of her lawyer, Henry So, and her aunt, barangay chairwoman Beviana Rizal.   

Carpio identified the arrested suspects as Gerald Taruc, 31, driver of Simon Enterprises, Inc.; Renato Mallari, 51; and Jerry Villanueva, 31.

Mallari and Villanueva allegedly enticed Taruc to divert his truck loaded with 441 sacks of soya beans worth P580,800 to a fence in Pampanga by offering him P80,000 as his share of the loot, according to Carpio.

The case was initially referred by Simon Enterprises to the police as a hijacking last Nov. 18 after the company truck was found abandoned in Guiguinto, Bulacan with its load missing.

Taruc claimed he reported the incident to the San Juan police, saying armed men ordered him to abandon the truck.

However, during interrogation, Taruc broke down and led Manila policemen to the two other suspects. Nine sacks of soya beans were recovered from the residences of Mallari and Villanueva. The two in turn led policemen to Salvador.

A representative of Simon Enterprises also identified Mallari and Simon as the two persons he had seen talking with Taruc prior to the delivery of the shipment.

Charges of qualified theft were filed against Taruc, while Mallari and Villanueva were charged as accessories to the crime.

Carpio said Salvador will be charged with violating the anti-fencing law before the Pampanga prosecutors’ office. – Nestor Etolle