Quezon City policemen arrested a cabbie for taking away the taxicab he was driving and changing its markings to use the same vehicle to ply Metro Manila. And while the suspect claimed he only failed to return the vehicle because he was not able to come up with earnings (boundary) to remit to the owner, the fact that he and two other cohorts had already painted the cab to change its markings made him liable for car theft.
Inspector Angelo Nicolas, chief of the Anti-Carnapping Section of the Quezon City Police District, warned that there are unscrupulous drivers like Marlon Precillas who tamper the markings of the taxicabs they are driving to use the same to ply the metropolis and pretend that these are their own.
Nicolas told The STAR that cases like the one involving Precillas could actually happen even if the suspects do not change the license plates of the vehicles, especially if the cab owners do not report to the police, resulting in the failure to alarm other police units to be on the lookout for such vehicles.
“Because of the numerous cabs operating in Metro Manila, sometimes authorities are not aware that these are stolen vehicles especially if these are not alarmed to them,” he said.
Luckily for company MGE, which owns the cab that Precillas took away, the driver was located and the vehicle was subsequently recovered Monday in Taguig.
Police Officer 3 Honey Besas said Precillas drove the vehicle in the morning of Wednesday last week and was supposed to return it the next day.
When the suspect failed to return it for several days, a representative of MGE named Reynaldo Ferrer alerted the police about the case.
Ferrer went to Precillas’ residence in Parañaque, where the suspect told police he failed to return the vehicle because he was not able to come up with earnings to remit to the operator. But when police operatives went to the place in Taguig where he left the vehicle, authorities found out that the markings of the vehicle, which was left parked at a warehouse near Fort Bonifacio, had been changed from “MGE” to “Carter Transport.” Its license plates TXB-790, however, remained.
Precillas apparently left the keys to a former co-worker, delivery boy Bensly Torion, who was supposed to give the vehicle to Nick Guadalupe who would drive the same vehicle.
Torion allegedly supervised the painting of the vehicle to change its markings.
Besas said the painting of the cab took a bit longer from Wednesday last week to Monday, making it possible for police authorities to still locate the vehicle at the warehouse.
While Precillas and Torion were both arrested, Besas said they are still determining the whereabouts of Guadalupe.