Enrile questions evidence vs carjack-slay suspect

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile on Wednesday questioned the integrity of the police's evidence against suspected carjack gang leader Raymond Dominguez in connection with the Venson Evangelista carjack-slay case. At a Senate hearing, Enrile questioned the discovery of Evangelista's charred driver's license and more than 20 license plates in the supposed safe house of Dominguez's gang in San Fernando City in Pampanga province. Enrile wondered why the burnt license of Evangelista would end up in the safe house in San Fernando when his body was found in Nueva Ecija. "You will not burn somebody unless you want to erase traces of identification," he said. He also asked why the gang would leave 20 license plates just lying around in their supposed safe house. "If you are really a carnapper, what is the [purpose] of keeping all those license numbers that will lead to you?" he asked. "Don't you find it strange? If you are not trying to elude the law... why do you bring the evidence of the crime in your safe house," Enrile told Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Dir. Gen. Raul Bacalzo during the hearing. Enrile likewise said that if he were a criminal, he would have known to keep any evidence that might be used to trace them in a safer place. "Do you mean to say the guy that you are dealing with is a stupid criminal element?" he said. Bacalzo, however, explained that all documents referring to the identification of Evangelista were earlier collected by the gang to purposely mislead the police in its probe of the burnt body. "These things really are the things found there," he said during the hearing. Enrile said Bacalzo's answer was a "plausible explanation" but that he still has to defend this when the court hears the case. "It will come sooner or later... you better study that very carefully," he said. In a separate interview, Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo said he supports the PNP in its investigation and stressed that he doubts any evidence was planted in the scene. "Wala po ako nakikitang ganun (I don't see anything like that)," he said. Dominguez had been linked to the carjacking of a Land Cruiser of car dealer Evangelista, who disappeared in Quezon City Jan. 13. Evangelista's charred and brutalized body was found in Nueva Ecija the next day. One of the suspects in the case, Alfred Mendiola, linked Dominguez to the Evangelista case, as well as a similar carjack-slay involving Emerson Lozano, the son of Marcos lawyer Oliver Lozano. When authorities raided the supposed Dominguez gang's safe house in San Fernando City, two vehicles, more than 20 license plates, accessories, and Evangelista's burned driver's license, and clothes were found. — RSJ/KBK, GMANews.TV