What makes car theft in Phl lucrative?

The brutality by which suspected ring members of car thieves killed their victims was totally inhuman to say the least. The gruesome manner of how poor victims were slaughtered like prey animals most especially broke the hearts of their bereaved loved ones. Police recovered the bodies of the victims that were scorched almost beyond recognition and found physical evidence of their being tortured to death.

The charred body of Emerson Lozano was found dumped in Porac, Pampanga last Monday. The police recovered much earlier in Tarlac the remains of his driver who was also shot in the head and his remains, too, were burned beyond identification. Fortunately, his driver’s license was spared by the fire and led police to his remains being identified. Police believed Lozano may be a victim of the same carjacking syndicate that killed another car dealer, Venson Evangelista.

Although the carnapping incidents took place in different dates and places, there seemed to be the common modus operandi of these beastly criminals on the loose. The suspects pretended to be interested buyers of “used” cars that the victims were selling.

But what baffled police authorities was the subsequent turn of events. The plot thickened when the carnapped vehicle of Lozano was later recovered but also torched by the still unidentified suspects.

The family of slain victim Emerson Lozano laid him to rest yesterday. They had his remains cremated, whatever was left of his mortal body. The Lozano family later went to the wake of Evangelista to share grief with them on the gory deaths of their loved ones in the hands of soul-less criminals.

Emerson’s father, lawyer Oliver Lozano could not help but think this spate of violent carjacking incidents might be more than about committing such heinous crimes. Lozano, who lawyered for the Marcoses, suspects these criminals may have the support of people with political motives to destabilize the administration of President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III.

In an interview with radio station DZMM yesterday, Lozano revealed he has several witnesses who have come forward with this theory of destabilization. Lozano suspects the people behind these dastardly acts seemingly want to show that there is a breakdown of law and order in our country. Initially, the elder Lozano declared that his son might have been a victim of “mistaken identity” because he had no enemy and a very loving husband to his wife and father to their two young children.

In a separate interview by radio station DZBB, Arsenio “Boy” Evangelista, the father of Venson, decried the merciless killing of his son as like making a “statement of challenge” to the administration. He believed in his heart that his son never did any wrong to anyone for him to deserve that kind of cruel death.

The elder Evangelista whose family has been into buy-and-sell of pre-owned luxury cars for so many years already could not think of any motives of the criminals to kill his son the way they did. He noted the common practice by hardcore carjackers to just take at gunpoint the vehicle. It’s only when the car owner resists that these carjackers usually would kill.

Grace, the grieving widow of Venson, told police investigators her husband went along with the supposed buyer of the “For Sale” Land Cruiser for a test drive from Quezon City. Venson never returned home to his wife and two daughters. Several days later, she was told the burned remains of her husband were found dumped in an irrigation ditch in Nueva Ecija.

What completely appalled the Evangelista patriarch was what appeared to be signs of torture on his son’s remains. Venson’s tongue stuck out apparently due to strangulation. Like Lozano’s son, Venson has bullet wound on the head. The tire wheel that was used to burn Venson’s body, he noticed, apparently was forcibly put in his son that crushed his chest and cut off his leg.

Such brutality of his son’s murder, the Evangelista patriarch said, gives him reason also to believe there is more than meets the eye in these twin carnap cases.

As if these high-profile carnapping incidents were not enough to put our police on red alert, businesswoman Margarita Fores, lost her luxury sports utility vehicle (SUV) on Wednesday while it was parked in Makati City. She is a first cousin of former Senator Mar Roxas, who ran but lost as the vice presidential running-mate of President Aquino during the May 2010 elections.

The driver of Fores told police investigators that the suspects pointed their guns at him so he did not put up a fight. While terrified by their guns, all that he was thinking at the time was what befell Lozano and Venson. Fortunately for him, the carjackers took off without harming him.

Yesterday, businessman and radio personality Carl Balita lost his Toyota Grandia Hi-Ace van to carnappers while it was also parked in Quezon City.

Philippine National Police Highway Patrol Group (PNP-HPG) spokesman Senior Superintendent Edwin Butacan admitted they have recorded 31 cases of stolen vehicles all over the Philippines for the first 16 days of the year.

This means, an average of two vehicles are being stolen for this short period alone. If there is any source of consolation, the PNP-HPG cited, this average is lower compared to six vehicles stolen for the same period last year.

The spate of carnapping and carjacking incidents lately were highlighted by the more serious crime of murder committed against the victims. My relatives saw how car thieves took away last June their newly bought Nissan Urvan that was parked in front of their house in Santol, Quezon City. Even if they reported the incident to police just after it was stolen, they never recovered their van that was fortunately insured from theft.

As standard operating procedure, a “flash alarm” is immediately issued by the PNP-HPG. This way, all policemen are alerted about the carnapped vehicle should they spot it. But carnap syndicates are, of course, not foolish enough to run around with a “hot car.” So the stolen vehicles are usually cannibalized or its spare parts sold.

The police have not so far come up with any organized fence or buyers of stolen vehicles. But how come carnapping seemed to be a lucrative trade in our country?

I dread the answers to this question because they are the reasons to kill for.