New HPG-7 chief: Stolen vehicles dumped in Cebu

CEBU, Philippines - Newly-installed Highway Patrol Group (HPG)-7 chief Felixberto Castillo vows to intensify the anti-carnapping campaign in the region by denying the entry of carnapped vehicles from Luzon as he believes that Cebu is one of the areas where stolen vehicles are being dumped.

Castillo, who assumed as the new HPG-7 commander on Friday, said that based on their data 90 percent of the carnapped vehicles seized in Central Visayas last year came from Manila and its neighboring areas in Luzon.

Castillo dismisses the possibility that the gruesome killing of car dealers in Manila will happen in Cebu.

 “The situation in Metro Manila and Visayas with regards to carnapping is different. Ang tunay na laban nasa Manila, not here. So yung dapat na tingnan ay yung mga sasakyan na pumapasok dito. Ito yung mamanmanan namin,” he said.

Castillo believes that most of the carnapped vehicles in Manila are being brought mostly here in Cebu and Mindanao.

“If we are suspicious of what we are buying, then wag na lang. Wag tayong ma-entice sa murang sasakyan, baka ang papeles hindi genuine,” Castillo advised the would be buyers.

The charred bodies of car dealers Emerson Lozano and Venson Evangelista were found less than a week apart last month with gunshot wounds in the head.

Lozano, son of Marcos lawyer Atty. Oliver Lozano, was believed to have been abducted while accompanying a prospective buyer for a test drive. His charred body was found in Pampanga two days after he was reported missing.

Evangelista was also found in Nueva Ecija six days after he was reported missing on January 12. He was also meeting with a prospective buyer for a test drive before he went missing.   (FREEMAN NEWS)