Senga’s driver taken for a ride

Another attempt at military adventurism? Or just an innocent joyride with the Armed Forces chief’s van?

One of the staff drivers of Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief Gen. Generoso Senga was himself taken for a ride by his drinking buddies who — without the driver’s knowledge — made off with his military utility van in Marikina City the other night.

While the "carjacking" may have just been meant as a joke, T/Sgt. Glen Millanes could find himself driven out of the military as the AFP leadership ordered his investigation.

Millanes went to the Marikina City police at about 4:45 a.m. yesterday to report that Senga’s Mitsubishi van with license plates UCT-136, issued to the office of the AFP chief, had been stolen.

News of Senga’s vehicle being stolen immediately spread to the airwaves with several radio stations broadcasting the incident.

Responding policemen later found the supposedly missing military utility van "intact," about 50 meters away from the place it was parked by Millanes at about 11 p.m. Sunday night.

Initial investigation showed that Millanes, along with two companions believed also to be military servicemen, stopped at Marketon Place located along Sumulong Highway, apparently to drink beer with friends.

According to the Marikina police criminal investigation Senior Inspector chief Edgar Atendido, Millanes claimed his military vehicle was missing and asked that the incident be booked as a carjacking.

Atendido said a police alarm was immediately sounded and patrol cars were dispatched to look for the "missing" vehicle.

But the search ended just 50 meters away from where the supposed carjacked military vehicle had been parked by Millanes.

"The car was recovered just 50 meters away along with its key. Nothing was reported missing," Atendido said.

Anti-carjacking policemen surmised that Millanes could have passed out from drinking, and that his "friends" then pulled a joke on him by moving the vehicle.

When Millanes regained consciousness, he left the bar to locate the van, only to find it missing. He immediately reported it as a theft to the local Traffic Management Group (TMG).

"It was a prank. He was so drunk that he did not notice that the van was taken away," TMG Director Chief Superintendent Errol Pan said.

While possibly meant as a joke, Millanes will likely face a military investigation for his lapse.

Brig. Gen. Jose Angel Honrado, AFP spokesman said that Millanes could be culpable for violating certain military rules.

"We will look into his possible liabilities," Honrado said of Millanes.

Honrado said the L-300 van is an "all-purpose vehicle" used to deliver messages and packages from Senga’s office.

Prior to its reported carjacking, the van was used by Millanes to haul musical instruments around for military affairs in Marikina City. — With Cecille Suerte Felipe