CARJACKING SUSPECT ROGER DOMINGUEZ REPORTEDLY IN HIDING
ANGELES CITY, FEBRUARY 6, 2011 (STAR) By Ding Cervantes – Roger Dominguez, who together with his younger brother Raymond were tagged as leaders of a carjack gang involved in the killing of two car dealers and a driver last month, has reportedly gone into hiding.
Senior Superintendent Wendy Rosario, acting Bulacan police director, said he received reports that Roger had not been spotted at his residence in Calumpit, Bulacan for the past few days.
The Dominguez brothers were implicated in the killing of car dealer Emerson Lozano and his driver Ernane Sensil, who were reported missing last Jan. 12 during a supposed meeting with buyers of a secondhand Kia Carnival van that they were selling.
Lozano's charred body was recovered in Porac, Pampanga while Sensil's remains that were also burned were found in La Paz, Tarlac.
Rosario said the brothers were also identified as suspects in the killing of Venson Evangelista whose charred body was found in Cabanatuan City, Nueva Ecija.
He said that as far as he knew, no arrest warrant has been issued against Roger, while his brother Raymond has been detained at the Philippine National Police headquarters at Camp Crame in Quezon City since last Jan. 23.
"While Roger was also a respondent in the case of Evangelista, there is no warrant for his arrest yet, since I believe he has 10 days within which to counter the complaint against him as allowed in the preliminary investigation," he said.
He said Roger fears for his safety and has gone into hiding.
Rosario also disputed the claim of Raymond's lawyer Joey Cruz that his client was illegally arrested last Jan. 22.
"That's not true. Raymond signed a waiver to indicate he was voluntarily giving himself up to the custody of police for his safety. As a matter of fact, his lawyer and mother were with him when he signed the waiver," Rosario said.
Police filed criminal charges against Raymond and his girlfriend, movie starlet Katrina Paula, for allegedly possessing stolen vehicles.
Highway Patrol Group director Chief Superintendent Leonardo Espina said Dominguez and Paula, Angeline Samonte in real life, were charged with five counts of violation of Presidential Decree 1612 or the Anti-Fencing Law.
Espina said the charges stemmed from seizure of eight stolen cars after the police raid on a condominium in Mandaluyong last Nov. 2.
He said Paula and Dominguez reportedly shared a unit at the condominium building.
"Under Republic Act 6539, the mere possession of a stolen vehicle is considered carnapping," Espina said at a briefing on the operations on carjacking syndicates and efforts of the Highway Patrol Group (HPG) to address the problem.
Lozanos seek freeze of Dominguez assets
Lozano's father lawyer Oliver Lozano has asked the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) to freeze the bank deposits Raymond and Roger Dominguez.
In a two-page letter-request, Lozano said "that the Dominguez brothers are involved in unlawful activities of carjacking with murder among others – a billion-peso industry."
Lozano also said that there exists reasonable ground to believe that "the bank deposits and other properties of the brothers came from dubious means, notably proceeds (from) carnapping and other crimes."
He also appealed to the AMLC to hold the deposits of the Dominguez family, relatives and friends where the suspects could have stashed or laundered their money. This would include the wife of Raymond Dominguez, whom they identified as Katrina Paula.
Lozano stressed the need to seize these funds since "these are being used for the defense and propaganda of the Dominguez brothers."
The relatives of Lozano said the Dominguez brothers and their group conspired with one another in stealing Emerson's vehicle.
They said Raymond's denial of the allegation is weak compared to the positive identification made by arrested Alfred Mendiola, who pointed to the Dominguez brothers as leaders of the carjack gang.
Mendiola and another suspect, Ferdinand Parulan, were earlier arrested after they admitted posing as buyers of Evangelista's car on the night the victim was killed.
He said the Dominguez brothers masterminded the killing of Lozano, Sensil and Evangelista.
The charges against the Dominguez brothers on the Evangelista case were filed earlier after a partially burned driver's license of Evangelista was recovered in one of the suspected safehouses of the Dominguez gang in San Fernando, Pampanga.
Police also recovered a cell phone SIM card believed to belong to Sensil after a recent raid at another safehouse of the gang in Mabalacat, Pampanga.
This developed as Raymond Dominguez questioned the credibility of the witness presented by police against him.
Dominguez filed an affidavit before the Quezon City Prosecutor's Office claiming that the witness is a "coached witness."
He said the witness in an earlier statement alleged that he could not identify the man because it was dark, but in another affidavit the witness already identified Dominguez as the one who visited the auto shop of victim Venson Evangelista a day before his abduction last month.
The alleged visit happened last Jan. 12, a day before Evangelista was snatched by two men who pretended to be car buyers who went along with the victim during a supposed test drive of a Toyota Land Cruiser.
Dominguez claimed that he couldn't have possibly ordered Mendiola to take the Land Cruiser for a test drive on Jan. 13, saying he was then attending a court hearing in Malolos.
Lawyer Joselito Cruz, counsel of Dominguez, said the case has already been submitted for resolution by the Quezon City Prosecutor's Office. The complaint would be resolved by Assistant City Prosecutor Jaime Villanueva.
Meanwhile, HPG director Espina disclosed that a chief superintendent or a police general is now being investigated for his alleged involvement in carjacking.
Espina said the chief superintendent was allegedly in cahoots with the suspected car thieves, but he refused to elaborate when reporters demanded the identity of the senior police officer. – With Cecille Suerte Felipe, Rhodina Villanueva, Sandy Araneta
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Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
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