CHR official claims ownership of stolen car seized by CIDG

An official of the Commission on Human Rights in Davao City claimed that he owned one of the 15 stolen vehicles that were recovered by the Criminal Intelligence and Detection Group recently.

SPO2 Noel Seno, a CIDG operative, yesterday said that the CHR official, whom he refused to name, called up CIDG regional director Jorge Corpuz to inform him that he is the owner of the Mitsubishi Adventure bearing plate number URF715 that was stolen a few months ago. The car was recovered by the CIDG along Gorordo Avenue last week.

The CHR official told Corpuz that he would arrive in Cebu today to claim the vehicle, which was stolen in Mindanao and was brought in Cebu. He said that he had learned that his vehicle was in the CIDG custody through radio reports.

The stolen vehicle was recovered by police from Japanese national Teneishi Tanaka, who had allegedly bought it from a certain Reynold dela Torre, who in turn pointed to a certain Marcelo Cabahug, a businessman from Mandaue City, as the one who sold the car to him.

The CIDG discovered later that five of the 15 stolen vehicles now under its custody came from Cabahug, who reportedly sold them to different buyers.

Cabahug's name surfaced after Dela Torre cooperated with the police during the operation. It was also noted that some of the carnapped vehicles bear fake plate numbers.

Police are bent to file carnapping charges against Cabahug and are now in the process of conducting further investigation to determine whether some Land Transportation Office personnel were involved in issuing the fake plate numbers.

They are now conducting a manhunt operation against those involved in transporting the carnapped vehicles to Cebu from other areas, especially from Mindanao.

Aside from the CHR official, another man from Mindanao also called up the CIDG office to claim ownership to one of the stolen vehicles. - Flor Z. Perolina