4 Laguna motorbike dealers missing

CALAMBA CITY, Laguna, Philippines – Four dealers of second-hand motorcycles have not returned home since May 11 when they were supposed to meet an unidentified buyer here, police said yesterday.

Superintendent Joel Pernito, Calamba City police chief, identified the four as Allan Atienza, 31, and Kate Calderon Flores, 29, both residents of Barangay Parian here; and John George Ojas Flores, 28, and Percy Abinal, 27, of Barangay Lawa, also in this city.

Pernito said the four were engaged in the buy-and-sell of second-hand motorcycles in this city and nearby towns in Batangas.

He said Abinal’s wife Rowena and Atienza’s mother Florencia and wife Alma reported the disappearance to the police.

Mrs. Abinal described her husband Abinal as 5’2” tall, dark complexioned, chubby, and with kinky hair and tattoos on the right leg and back of the name “Percy” inside an arrow and sun, respectively.

Pernito said they believe the four motorcycle dealers are still alive since there are reports yet of any bodies found in this city and nearby provinces.

Senior Inspector Richard Corpuz, chief investigator, said an unidentified caller earlier told police that four bodies were found in Batangas, but this turned out to be a hoax.

Senior Superintendent Gilbert Cruz, Laguna provincial director, has ordered the Calamba City police to form a tracker team to locate the four dealers, who were last seen last May 11.

Cruz said the four boarded a tricycle to meet an unidentified buyer in Barangay Itaas here at around 8 p.m. that day, but have not returned home since then.

Last January, car dealers Emerson Lozano and Benson Evangelista were separately found dead days after accompanying buyers in a supposed test-drive.

Lozano and his driver, Ernane Sensil, disappeared on Jan. 12 and their charred bodies were later found in La Paz, Tarlac.

Evangelista, on the other hand, went missing on Jan. 14 and his body, also charred, was found in Cabanatuan City, Nueva Ecija.