High PNP officer denies any link to carnapping

MANILA, Philippines – Police Director Roberto “Boysie” Rosales denied Sunday that he is a protector of car thieves as the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) belied the existence of a report by its intelligence unit linking the police general to the Dominguez carnapping syndicate.

“I am denying it. Those who made the report could be the real coddlers of carnapping syndicates because they concocted a story about my involvement in an attempt to get off the heat, to turn the attention away from them,” Rosales said.

Rosales, currently the commander of the Philippine National Police-Directorate for Integrated Police Operations (PNP-DIPO) in Northern Luzon, was tagged as one of the supposed coddlers of the No. 1 carnapping syndicate in the country by the intelligence report purportedly coming from the AFP.

Brig. Gen. Jose Mabanta, Jr., AFP spokesman and head of the AFP-Civil Relations Service (CRS), said he has spoken to Maj. Gen. Francisco Cruz, the AFP deputy chief of staff for Intelligence (J2), who told him that there is no such report.

“We don’t (have) that report... I just don’t know where she (referring to the author of a news report) got it.” Mabanta said.

An article published in a broadsheet (not the Manila Bulletin) quoted a report allegedly coming from an intelligence unit based in Camp Aguinaldo as linking Rosales to the Dominguez carnap group.

The same alleged that the AFP intelligence report also named another protector as Supt. Napoleon Cauyan former Traffic Management Group director for Central Luzon.

Mabanta, however, stressed that as mentioned by the J2 deputy chief of staff, there is no such report.

“Apparently she is quoting an intelligence unit in Camp Aguinaldo… but as per J2 it (the report) does not exist,” he said.

“In the first place hindi namin ito turf, this is car theft incident . . . this is a common crime and we are only in support to the PNP in this effort,” added Mabanta.

On Sunday, Director General Raul Bacalzo, PNP Chief, created a coordinating committee which would work with the Armed Forces of the Philippines with regard to the report that some police officials are coddlers of carnapping syndicates.

Police Director Arturo Cacdac, director of the Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management (DIDM) was named as the committee head.

The link between Rosales and the Dominguez group, headed by brothers Roger and Raymond Dominguez, is reportedly Cauyan who was dismissed from the service for allegedly falsifying the records of his entry into the PNP.

But Rosales shrugged off the allegations that he is the PNP Director being referred to in the intelligence report, saying it could also be an attempt to get back at him for his aggressive campaign against carnapping syndicates when he was still the head of the National Capital Regional Police Office.

“First, we should identify the persons and group circulating that report and why. Because this could just be a diversionary tactic so that the real coddlers will not be included in the investigation,” said Rosales.

The official said it is impossible for him to coddle car thieves since he himself led the operation against carnapping groups in Metro Manila and their cohorts in the police and even at the Land Transportation Office (LTO).

LTO implements added safeguards vs carnapping

The LTO will incorporate additional safeguards to the motor vehicle registration process to prevent carjacking syndicates from further exploiting the current system and create a market for “hot cars.”

LTO Chief Virginia Torres said that she has already created a study group within the agency to conduct an immediate review of all existing orders, policies, regulations, memorandums and circulars relating to the registration of vehicles.

She said that although the primary mandate of this study group is to determine if the requirements for registration of brand new and pre-owned motor vehicles remain responsive to the times, it has also been tasked to come up with additional safeguards on the registration process.

“Carnapping syndicates proliferate because they are able to register stolen vehicles by exploiting the weaknesses of the registration system and corrupt the very people who have access to it. This is why it is very important to identify these weak spots and address them by adding more safeguards,” Torres said.

“The purpose really is to make it extremely difficult – if not impossible – to register hot cars. This way, we inhibit the growth of the market for stolen vehicles and thereby discourage criminals from considering carnapping as an illicit but lucrative profession," she added.

Corollary to this effort, Torres said, is a thorough investigation of all LTO frontline offices in charge of registration of motor vehicles “to weed out, expose and prosecute any official or personnel involved in the registration of these hot cars.”

She added that the Committee on Anti-Carnapping, which will be headed by Executive Director Redentor Reyes, will conduct the investigation “without disregarding the right of all individuals to due process of law.”


Leader of carnap ring in N. Luzon arrested

Police have arrested a leader of a small-time carnapping group in Northern Luzon which is also tagged as the Baguio City connection of the Dominguez carnapping group.

Supt. Edwin Butacan, spokesman of the Philippine National Police-Highway Patrol Group, said 26-year old Karl Michael Laranang was arrested by local HPG operatives outside the Justice Hall of Baguio City after reporting to his probation officer.

Butacan said a background check they conducted revealed that Laranang figured in a brush with the law in 2009 when he was arrested for illegal possession of a handgun at a mall in Baguio City, a criminal offense for which he applied for probation.

Baguio City Police records disclosed that on June 29, 2010, Laranang and his group staged a robbery in the house of a religious lay minister along Pinsao Road and looted valuables worth P500,000 including the victim’s Mitsubishi Pajero.

Days after the robbery and carjacking, Laranang was spotted in Sison and Pozzorubio, Pangasinan, looking for a buyer of the stolen SUV.

“The Laranang Group is listed in the HPG’s Order of Battle of Carnapping syndicates as affiliated with the Rolan Rofal Group operating in Baguio City which is now the subject of ongoing interdiction operations by RHPU-Cordillera,” said Butacan.

In a recent carnapping case involving the Rolan Rofal Group, Butacan said Laranang reportedly provided Rolan Rofal with government car plates issued to his (Laranang’s) step mother who is a staff of a regional office of a national government agency.

“A link diagram prepared by HPG investigators shows the Rolan Rofal Group as closely linked with the Central-Luzon-based Dominguez Gang thru common associates, gang members and business contacts,” said Butacan.

The Rolan Rofal Group operating in Baguio City and Northern Luzon employ the signature modus operandi of the Dominguez Gang of running off with cars offered for sale during test drive,” he added. (With a report by Kris Bayos)

source: Manila Bulletin