Taxi operators warned vs car thieves applying as drivers

MANILA, Philippines – Valenzuela City police warned taxi operators yesterday against car thieves applying as drivers after local police recovered Friday two stolen taxicabs reportedly sold by their drivers to a car theft gang.

City police chief Senior Superintendent Eric Serafin Reyes said cab owners must also thoroughly evaluate their drivers’ claims that they were victims of carjacking “for they could only be concocting stories.”

“Some of the drivers must have connections with car theft syndicates while others sell their cabs for easy money after failing to come up with rental fees (better known as boundary),” Reyes said.

The city police recovered two stolen Toyota Vios taxicabs that were refurbished at a car shop in Pampanga and sold to unsuspecting buyers.

Alleged car theft gang financier Rommel Malong told police that he “bought the cabs from the drivers for P40,000 to P50,000 only,” Reyes said.

Malong was arrested after he was identified by Dante Baluyot, who admitted refurbishing the stolen vehicles in his car shop.