MANILA, Philippines - The black Chevrolet Suburban sport utility vehicle (SUV) allegedly rented by Chief Justice Renato Corona was not registered with the Land Transportation Office (LTO).
In a report to Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo, Highway Patrol Group (HPG) director Chief Superintendent Leonardo Espina said the owner of the SUV, identified as Mark Anthony Lopez of Viking Haulers Inc., claimed they imported the 2005 model Suburban from California in 2009.
“We are now verifying the authenticity of their importation papers,” said Espina.
He said Lopez failed to show the official receipt and certificate of registration (OR/CR) for the vehicle and admitted it was not registered with the LTO.
“According to him (Lopez), all papers for application for registration are in the hands of a certain Danny Castillo who does this work for them. However, Castillo died two months ago. He gave no explanation why the SUV remained unregistered for the past three years,” Espina said.
“Lopez pointed to Castillo as the one who provided the plate number,” he added.
A Cebu-based businessman complained to the HPG that Corona’s SUV was sporting a plate number (ZEE-868) similar to their company vehicle, an L300 Mitsubishi, prompting an investigation by the HPG.
Espina said probers found out that the rent-a-car company rented it out to the Chief Justice for P12,000 a day.
Police said Lopez submitted a Bureau of Customs (BOC) certificate of payment and bill of lading but there was no OR/CR.