8 suspected carjackers arrested in Cavite raid

At least eight suspected members of a carjacking syndicate were arrested in a predawn raid on a residential area in Cavite province Friday. Police operatives swooped down on the suspects in a subdivision in Paliparan III village in Dasmariñas City in Cavite, radio dzBB reported. Seized in the raid were clothes, flat-screen TV sets and equipment, believed to be from a Philippine Postal Corp. van hijacked in Cavite last week. A separate report by dzBB’s Denver Trinidad initially identified three of the arrested as leader Ronald Santiago a.k.a. Onad; Joseph Hilario; and Ramil Santiago. The police said the suspects, members of the Onad carjacking syndicate, operate mainly in Central and Southern Luzon, and Metro Manila.

Citing intelligence reports, police said the gang had been planning a carjacking operation in Manila before their safe house was raided. The PNP units involved in the raid included the Highway Patrol Group and police from Cavite HPG and Special Weapons and Tactics units, Pasay City police and Bataan provincial police. Police are now looking into the involvement of the suspects in at least two recent carjacking cases involving the son of Marcos lawyer Oliver Lozano and car dealer Venson Evangelista. Emerson Lozano, 44, and driver Ernani Sensil disappeared in Quezon City Jan. 12 while meeting a prospective van buyer. They were killed and their charred bodies dumped in Pampanga and Tarlac. Lozano's van was left burning in Bataan last Wednesday. Evangelista disappeared in Quezon City Jan. 13 during a road test of a vehicle he was selling. His charred body was dumped in Nueva Ecija. Police suspect a single group — the Dominguez syndicate — was involved in the two cases, as well as the killing of starlet Rejoice Rivera. The dzBB report quoted Superintendent Allan Macapagal of the Bataan police investigation and intelligence branch as saying that they coordinated with Pasay City police on Friday's raid. Macapagal said their investigation showed the suspects used several vehicles, including a black Isuzu Alterra sport-utility vehicle (ZST-933) they allegedly used last Jan. 18 in a carjacking operation. The vehicle, reportedly carjacked in Batangas province, was recovered in Dinalupihan in Bataan. He said the modus operandi involved taking a new vehicle and using the newly stolen vehicle to commit other crimes. NCR campaign vs carjack gangs Meanwhile, police in Metro Manila have mapped out preemptive operations against carjacking gangs following a series of violent carjacking incidents there. Metro Manila police chief Director Nicanor Bartolome said this involves counter-intelligence work on select gang members and their whereabouts. "Yung preemptive, meron tayong gagawing paghanap sa kanila. Ito ang ating ginagawa ngayon. Pati sa ating tauhan pinakikilos natin lahat na tauhan natin (We are now tracking down these members as part of preemptive work. We have mobilized all available personnel for this)," Bartolome said in an interview on dzRH radio late Thursday. He said this is aside from the intensified checkpoint operations that started Wednesday night. Bartolome said that under the intensified checkpoints, he expects the immediate availability of police personnel for dragnet operations against carjackers. The checkpoint operations yielded immediate results before dawn Thursday, when two of three suspected robbers who carjacked a taxi in Quezon City were gunned down in Manila. "Pag may reports madaling maitawag doon sa mga nagko-conduct ng checkpoint for a dragnet operaetion (When there are reports of a carjacking, the checkpoints can be mobilized immediately to form a dragnet)," Bartolome said. Also, Bartolome asked the public to report carjacking cases to his office through hotline 8381505. The government has intensified its efforts against carjackers in the wake of at least two incidents where carjackers brutally killed their victims. Destabilization? At least for now, police are downplaying speculations that recent violent carjacking incidents are part of a plot to destabilize the Aquino administration. Bartolome said they have not received any intelligence reports that support such claim. "Specifically wala pa tayong na-gather. Pero patuloy ang pag-gather ng information (Specifically we have not gathered information to that effect. But we continue to gather intelligence information)," he said. Evangelista's father Arsenio had said the perpetrators of the incidents appear to be issuing a challenge to the Aquino administration. "May gusto silang iparating siguro sa administrasyon (It appears they want to send a message to this administration)," he said in an earlier interview on dzBB radio. Meanwhile, Bartolome said the Philippine National Police has assured the Lozano and Evangelista families of protection. "Sa side ni Lozano and Evangelista, we assured them of the security ng PNP na ibibigay sa kanilang pamilya (For the Lozano and Evangelista families, we assured them of police security)," he said. — RSJ, GMANews.TV