2 carjackers nabbed; Bulacan mayor's pickup recovered

MANILA, Philippines – Two members of a carjacking syndicate were arrested by Valenzuela police Sunday night in a pickup truck stolen from a Bulacan town mayor, an official said yesterday.

City police chief Senior Superintendent Wilben Mayor said Ronald Mamaril and Jun Galzote admitted to carjacking the Toyota Hilux as well as two other vehicles – a Grandia and another Hilux at gunpoint in Quezon City and Manila.

Senior Police Officer 4 Jesus Sagisi, deputy chief of the Station Investigation and Detection Management Bureau, said Mamaril and Galzote were arrested as they were about to leave the Garden Inn Hotel in Barangay Paso de Blas, where they spent the night.

The Hilux, registered to the Marymar Livestock Corp. with original plates PIT-871, was issued to Paombong Mayor Donato Marcos, co-owner of MLC. Also seized from the two men were a .45 caliber pistol and a .38 caliber revolver, both unlicensed.

When the two men were arrested at around 8 a.m. Sunday, the vehicle’s original plates had been replaced with RGW-479, which was issued to another vehicle, said Sagisi.

Marcos told investigators the Hilux was used to bring his son to his boarding house in Sampaloc, Manila. Mamaril and Galzote took over the vehicle at gunpoint from Marcos’ driver, Edward de la Cruz.

During interrogation, Mamaril and Galzote admitted to having carjacked the two vehicles and selling them to a fence identified only as “Meriel” of Pampanga, Sagisi said.