Sister of car owner: "Cops altered Pajero's plate"

CEBU, Philippines - The sister of the Filipina who owns the Sports Utility Vehicle that was allegedly used in the kidnap-slay of six-year-old Ellah Joy Pique has accused the police of tampering the vehicle’s plate.

This developed as the police planned to file a case tomorrow against another set of suspects.

Bebot Bautista Lalikan said the plate number of the three-door Mitsubishi Pajero owned by her sister, Ubing Bautista, was not tampered when the police took custody of it Friday night. She said the vehicle’s registered plate is LMJ 382.

She said she was surprised to see that the plate’s middle letter has been changed when she visited the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group-7 the other day. Lalikan said the letter M was changed to letter H.

“Karon pa ko pwerte gyud diay kahugaw ni’ng gobiyernoha kun wala kay kwarta mapriso gyud ka,” Lalikan said.

Sr. Supt. Patrocinio Comendador, spokesperson of the Task Force Ellah Joy, said the police did not tamper the plate but vowed that they will answer the allegations as soon as there is a formal complaint.

Comendador is confident that the raiding team that seized the vehicle had followed the normal procedures. He believes that the team had photographs of the vehicle’s plate before it was taken into custody.

Inayagan, Naga City barangay captain Naciso Tablate said there was no sign that the plate was tampered with when the police took custody of the vehicle.

 Tablate said he was one of the barangay officials who witnessed when the police served the search warrant last Friday.

Although he could not exactly remember the vehicle’s plate number, Tablate said he was sure that there was no erasure or scratched mark.

“Ako gyud tong gitan-aw ang plate number hayag kaayo akong flashlight,” Tablate said.

Comendador admitted that even if there were witnesses who identified the vehicle as being allegedly used in the crime, its owners are not yet considered as suspects in the kidnapping and murder of Pique.

Comendador, however, is optimistic that they will be able to file charges by Friday.

According to him, they are just waiting for the results of the laboratory tests on the computer gadgets found during the search and of the DNA test on the suspected bloodstains found inside the vehicle.

Bautista’s Pajero was taken into police custody on Friday. Her house in Inayagan, Naga City was also searched based on the search warrant issued by Regional Trial Court Judge Mienrado Paredes.

Bautista was not around during the search as she had already left for Singapore with her British boyfriend identified only as Ian on February 9.

Lalikan said her sister and her boyfriend arrived in Cebu from Singapore on February 3 to celebrate her birthday. The couple immediately went to Palawan on the same date until February 6.

Bautista and her boyfriend went home to Inayagan on February 6 and were supposed to leave for Singapore on February 7 but they were not able to catch up their flight.

The couple finally left Cebu on February 9 on the day Pique was found dead on a cliff in Barili.

Case vs. new suspects

Comendador said the task force will decide whether to file the case tomorrow against the new suspects.

He said that so far they have pieces of evidence enough to file the case, though he pointed out that further evidence would help in their investigation.

As of yesterday, they have also already completed the affidavits of at least six witnesses.

The Land Transportation Office (LTO)-7 has also submitted yesterday the report on the ownership of the vehicle.

Comendador said they are looking at all angles, which include cybersex.

The task force, which is composed of several agencies, held a second closed-door meeting yesterday afternoon, the result of which will be known today.

As to the plan of lawyer Salvador Solima, one of the counsels of the owner of the vehicle, to file a motion to quash the search warrant, Comendador said that it can probably be quashed.

“What is there to defend when we haven’t declared someone as suspects?” Comendador, who also heads the Regional Investigation and Detective Management Division-7, said.

Solima said his clients are not yet suspects but the search warrant was already out and implemented.

“The subject for the search warrant was the vehicle recovered which was now under the jurisdiction of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group-Central Visayas but why (did) the policeman used (it) to search the house of my clients?” Solima asked.

He said the house of his client was not subject of the search warrant.

Comendador said Pique’s parents, who went to the Police Regional Office-7 headquarters yesterday, claimed they have no problems with the current investigation of the task force.

“They were here after they were invited. It’s up to them to decide (if they would still trust this investigation) but so far, wala daw sila’y problema sa among investigation,” he said. — With a report from Mylen Manto/LPM (FREEMAN)