Lozano's son found dead

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine National Police (PNP) has created a special investigation team to look into the circumstances behind the alleged kidnapslay of the son of popular Marcos lawyer Oliver Lozano and his driver.

The charred body of driver Ernani Sensil was found in La Paz, Tarlac, while that of Emerson Lozano, also burned, was discovered on January 14 near the megadike in Porac, Pampanga.

However, it was only Monday that police confirmed that the body found in Pampanga was that of Lozano based on his dental records.

President Benigno S. Aquino III ordered the PNP regional director for Central Luzon, Chief Superintendent Allan Purisima, to prioritize the resolution of the case.

Director General Raul Bacalzo, PNP Chief, likewise ordered the creation of the Special Investigation Task Group and handpicked Chief Superintendent Benito Estipona, deputy chief of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), to head the probe team.

Chief Superintendent Agrimero Cruz, Jr., PNP spokesman, said they have already obtained some juicy information as to the motive and the possible suspects behind the killing of Lozano and Sensil but would not divulge them saying it might jeopardize the conduct of the investigation.

“We are not facing a blank wall on this, we have information based on the testimony of the victims’ family but we cannot divulge them because our investigators are using them,” said Cruz.

Lozano and Sensil were reported missing since January 12 while reportedly meeting a prospective buyer of a van in Quezon City.

Cruz said a background check revealed that Lozano was engaged in buy-and-sell of used cars as his sideline.

Cruz said the initial investigation revealed that the motive could be carnapping, meaning, the perpetrators are only interested in taking the car being sold by Lozano.

“This case is extra-ordinary. While there were cases before that some carnappers are posing as interested buyers of second-hand vehicles, it appears that this is the first time that they took and killed their victims,” said Cruz.

Chief Superintendent Leonardo Espina, chief of the Highway Patrol Group (HPG), said probers are looking into the possibility of a link between the case of Lozano and the son of a car dealer identified as Benson Evangelista.

“The Chief PNP has directed the creation of a special investigation task group to dig deeper into the Lozano and Evangelista cases. We have to gather all the details first before we could say for a fact that this is a case of particular or specific case,” said Espina.

As this developed, spot checking of all sports utility vehicle and other luxury car brands that have become targets of car thieves was proposed by a neophyte lawmaker following the separate murders over the weekend of three second-hand car vendors.

Bagong Henerasyon party-list Rep. Bernadette Herrera-Dy said the incidence of carnap killings is on the rise with the police still baffled at how to address the new modus operandi of car thieves.

Herrera-Dy said spot checking of vehicle registration and engines of luxury and SUVs can be one solution to the problem as she noted that police are convinced that stolen vehicles find an easy market in the provinces where they are used by influential and powerful personalities.

The solon urged politicians and businessmen owning SUVs and high-end vehicles to voluntarily submit their cars for inspection by anti-carnapping enforcers in a bid to address the resurgence of car thefts that had claimed the lives of three second-hand car sellers, including Lozano, last week. (Aaron Recuenco, Genalyn D. Kabiling and Ben R. Rosario)
source: mb.com.ph/