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CEBU CITY, Philippines – Police finally got a name to go with the car plates of one of the recovered vehicles in Talisay City.
According to the Land Transportation Office in Central Visayas (LTO-7), the car plates (YCG-881) of the Ford Everest belonged to another vehicle (a Mitsubishi Pajero) owned by Arsenio S. Kho Jr. of No. 34, 13th street, Cagayan de Oro City.
Superintendent Juanito Enguerra Jr., deputy chief of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group in Central Visayas (CIDG-7), said LTO data showed that the Ford Everest bore the wrong plate.
The other vehicle, a Toyota Fortuner, was still being verified by the LTO-7.
Enguerra said coordinating with the LTO to find out if the vehicle has the right plate number is another way to determine if the vehicle is stolen.
Kho, who is the president of the Association of Barangay (village) Councils of Misamis Oriental, was surprised with the development when Cebu Daily News called him up on Tuesday.
Kho, who is also the ex-officio member of the Misamis Oriental Provincial Board, told Cebu Daily News that his SUV with the car plates is still with him and has never been stolen or sold.
He said his brother bought the vehicle in Cebu a few years back from a certain “Akol.”
Enguerra said a letter will be sent to Kho to ask him about his SUV and the similar car plates.
Enguerra said the verification of the Ford Everest car plate showed that it has been registered twice - the first was in Malaybalay, Bukidnon; and the second was in Tagbilaran, Bohol.
Enguerra requested the LTO-7 and the car manufacturers to check on the car plates of the two vehicles.
He said he was still waiting for the car manufacturer's information.
“Through backtracking, we can identify where the car was first bought and who was its first buyer,” Enguerra said.
The CIDG-7 worked on finding more information on the car plates of the vehicles since the Police Crime Laboratory were busy micro-etching the six vehicles recovered in a vacant lot parked on A.S. Fortuna Street, Barangay Banilad Mandaue City.
Enguerra said no one has come forward to claim the vehicles.
The eight vehicles recovered in two separate police operations in Mandaue and Talisay cities were undertaken after the Barangay Tisa raid last week by Quezon City police task force on anti-carnapping.
Joseph Burt Cañete was arrested, while 13 vehicles were seized during the raid.
QC policemen identified Reynold Dela Torre, Cañete's brother-in-law and business partner of a car dealer shop in Fuente Osmeña as head of a syndicate that bought stolen cars — a charge strongly denied by Dela Torre.
Police filed an anti-fencing case against Cañete, who was released on bail. No case was filed against Dela Torre.
The vehicles seized in the Mandaue and Talisay raids were believed to be owned by Dela Torre.
