Bullet-riddled pickup left near cemetery: NAIA employee’s license found in vehicle

MANILA, Philippines - A pickup full of bullet holes was abandoned near the gate of Heritage Memorial Park in Taguig before dawn yesterday, with a 23-year-old Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) employee’s driver’s license left in the vehicle.

Investigators initially believed Sarah Jane Samonte, a resident of Lumban, Laguna, was the driver of the Mitsubishi Strada (RLY-330) when they found her driver’s license in the pickup, Southern Police District director Chief Superintendent Jose Erwin Villacorte said.

The driver’s license was the only document found in the vehicle, which – despite being riddled with bullet holes – had no visible bloodstains.

Samonte herself is alive and well, Villacorte said.

Police officers found that Samonte lost her driver’s license after motorcycle-riding snatchers grabbed her bag near NAIA last Friday. She reported the loss to the police.

Villacorte said investigators are still trying to determine who owns the pickup. He said they “are certain” that the persons who stole Samonte’s bag occupied the Strada.

Crime scene investigators recovered 33 9mm slugs in the vehicle.

Villacorte said they responded to a caller who informed the Philippine National Police hotline that a pickup was abandoned near the cemetery. Security guards reported no shootings in the area. Villacorte said the vehicle may have been strafed somewhere else.