Stolen SUV parked at Camp Crame

MANILA, Philippines — Personnel of the police Anti-Kidnapping Group (AKG) were allegedly responsible for illegally parking a sport utility vehicle (SUV) at Camp Crame, which was stolen through a “rent-tangay” scheme and used in the kidnapping of three Chinese nationals and a Filipino.

Brig. Gen. Randulf Tuano, spokesman for the Philippine National Police, said an investigation is ongoing to determine who are liable for parking a Ford Everest at the officers’ row or the houses occupied by senior PNP officials.

“We will make sure that those responsible for this incident will be punished,” Tuano told reporters.

The SUV was discovered parked near the married officers’ quarters on Aug. 6. The vehicle was tracked by the owner through a global positioning system installed in the car.

The couple who owned the SUV told probers that a Chinese national identified as Wang Huiyi rented the vehicle, but it was not returned to them, PNP Headquarters Support Service (HSS) director Brig. Gen. Job Russel Balaquit said.

Police said the SUV was among the six vehicles seized during an operation to rescue kidnapping victims in Parañaque on July 13, which led to the arrest of 12 suspects.

AKG spokesperson Maj. Eleonor Villaruz said police personnel parked the SUV at the officers’ row due to lack of space near their office.

She said there was nothing irregular in the SUV being found in the area.

“That’s not intended, random lang because of limited parking space,” Villaruz said.

The parking of the SUV at the officers’ row was not coordinated with the HSS, according to Balaquit.

“That’s a part of our memorandum to them. They should investigate if there are procedural lapses,” he said.