The police are digging deeper into the links between the recent carjack-murders of car dealers Venson Evangelista and Emerson Lozano, the son of Marcos lawyer Oliver Lozano. Central Luzon police director Chief Superintendent Allan Purisima said Alfred Mendiola, who confessed about his role in the killing of Evangelista, had linked the Dominguez Gang to Lozano’s murder. “Ayon sa statement ni Alfred Mendiola, may kaugnayan ang mga taong ito sa pagkamatay kay Emerson Lozano. Pero ito ay kasalukuyang pinagtatagpi-tagpi ng available evidence at binubuo ang istorya," Purisima said in an interview on dwIZ radio on Monday. (Mendiola’s statement linked the Dominguez gang to the killing of Lozano. However, we are trying to reconcile this with available evidence.) “Yung investigation di pa tapos, nag-ga-gather pa tayo ng additional evidence kay Lozano (Our investigation is not yet over. We are still gathering evidence on the Lozano case)," he added. On Saturday, one of the two siblings being linked to the brutal carjack-slay of Evangelista voluntarily turned himself in to Bulacan police Saturday night to clear his name. Bulacan police officer-in-charge Senior Superintendent Wendy Rosario said Raymond Dominguez went to his office of at 10 p.m. on Saturday, accompanied by his mother and lawyer Joey Cruz.
In a phone interview with GMANews.TV, Rosario said Dominguez sought police custody as a person in distress and not as a murder suspect. On the other hand, Purisima admitted they are “frustrated" that they cannot subject suspected carjacker Dominguez to a drug test to verify a theory in the Evangelista case. He said one of their theories was that Evangelista’s killers were high on drugs when they murdered him. However, Purisima said they cannot subject Dominguez to a drug test because he is not yet under arrest. Dominguez turned himself in to Bulacan police but for “voluntary custody" last weekend, claiming he feared for his life. However, the police said he is not yet considered under arrest at this time.
“Gusto namin i-drug test si Raymond pero voluntary custody yan di pwedeng parang arestadong tao na isa-subject namin sa drug test, di natin pupuwedeng ganoon ang gawin doon. Kaya ang theory natin na maaring sila gumagamit ng bawal na gamot, yan pa rin ang information na natanggap natin," Purisima said. (We want to subject him to a drug test to test our theory but we cannot do so now because he is not considered under arrest yet.) He also admitted it will take time before Raymond is considered under arrest.
“Matagal ang proseso na yan. Yan dadaan sa korte at pagaaralan ng hukom ang ebidensyang ibibigay natin sa kanila (It will take a long time. It will go through the courts)," he said.
Killings Emerson Lozano, 44, and driver Ernani Sencil disappeared January 12 in Quezon City, while on their way to meet a prospective buyer of his Kia Carnival van. Sencil’s charred body was found on January 13 in Tarlac while Lozano’s charred body was found on January 14 in Pampanga. The Kia van was found burning in Bataan on January 19. Meanwhile, Evangelista disappeared on January 13 in Quezon City when he road tested a Land Cruiser he was selling. Mendiola admitted taking part in the carjacking of Evanglista's vehicle. The 30-year-old Evangelista’s charred and brutalized body was found in Nueva Ecija on January 14. The carjacking generated public outrage and prompted Malacañang to order the PNP to crack down on carjacking.
PNP probes ‘collusion’ of LTO insiders Meanwhile, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said it is looking into the possible collusion of some Land Transportation Office personnel with carjacking syndicates.
“Patuloy ang ating investigation diyan (We continue to investigate that possibility)," PNP chief Director General Raul Bacalzo said in an interview on dzRH radio. Bacalzo said he already ordered all mobile units nationwide, including motorcycle and foot patrols, to heighten police visibility and conduct checkpoint operations. Bacalzo also appealed to victims of past carjacking incidents to come forward and identify their vehicles based on the license plates recovered during a police raid on the Dominguezes’ safehouse in Central Luzon last weekend.
“Sana ang mga naging biktima makikipagtulungan. Kami ay naniniwalang malakas ang ating ebidensya bagama’t patuloy pa rin ang imbestigasyon natin," he said. (We hope the victims will cooperate. We believe our evidence is strong although the investigation is still ongoing)
CBCP: No to death penalty Meanwhile, the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) urged the government to enforce the law seriously instead of thinking of reviving the death penalty because of the controversial carjack-slays. “If only the government would do everything to arrest suspects, immediately dispense justice and treat convicts equally in the country’s jails and penitentiaries, there would be no need for the death penalty," CBCP president and Tandag Bishop Nereo Odchimar said in an article posted on the CBCP news site on Monday. He noted recent heinous crimes across the country have led several legislators and anti-crime advocates to move for the reimposition of the death penalty. CBCP Episcopal Commission on Prison Pastoral Care Chairman and Puerto Princesa Bishop Pedro Arigo said legislators pushing the death penalty are “barking at the wrong tree." “The government, the three branches of government, should assure its citizens of an efficient service and effective criminal justice system and there would be no need for the death penalty," he said. He described the proposals to reimpose the death penalty as a rehash of earlier efforts and likened it to a “sirang plaka" (broken record). The Catholic Church believes in a person’s capability to change even after serving a jail term. “There’s always a possibility that convicts turn in a new leaf and become productive members of society," Arigo added.
– VVP, GMANews.TV 
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