If the Aquino administration is serious in its drive to stamp out corruption in government, it should focus on two hot items that have recently hogged the headlines – the plunder case on former AFP comptroller retired Gen. Carlos Garcia and the gruesome murder of two car dealers allegedly by a well-entrenched carnapping syndicate.
From all indications, these cases would lead to corrupt officials in the bureaucracy, police and military. Once positively identified, these coddlers of the criminal and the corrupt should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law so as to serve warning to those who continue to betray the trust of the people.
Everybody is convinced that Garcia and the carnapping syndicates couldn’t have carried out their crimes without the connivance of well-placed officials in the military, the police and the bureaucracy. It is now up to the still untainted officers of the police and the judiciary to follow the paper trail and follow up leads to pinpoint and arrest these criminal coddlers.
Garcia was alleged to have accumulated P302 million in illegal wealth, mostly from the AFP retirement fund and questionable deals, and was believed certain to remain in the slammer for the rest of his pitiful life when, shock of all shocks, the Ombudsman struck a deal with him to plead to a lesser offense and the Sandiganbayan hurriedly allowed him to post a bail of – would you believe it? – P60,000. In minutes, the guilty-looking Garcia is out of jail and is now believed to be missing.
And the Ombudsman probably believes we should all be thankful because Garcia agreed to return P135 million of the P302-million loot! For years, the Filipino people were made to believe that finally the government has bagged a big fish in its drive against corruption and that Garcia was guilty as hell. And then just before Christmas, the prosecutors turned around and said they did not have enough evidence to convict Garcia of plunder, which was non-bailable, and that they had to settle for a guilty plea of bribery and money laundering violations.
Obviously, there were unseen hands that worked behind the scene to bolt Garcia out of jail, hands that are probably as guilty as the filthy hands of the general. Everybody agrees that the general could not have amassed such wealth without the collusion of other military and defense officials. But will anybody move heaven and earth to prove such allegation?
The credibility of the country’s military establishment and the judiciary will forever be tainted if the Garcia’s plunder case remains unresolved. Will it go the same way as the other high-profile corruption cases – to the trash bin of memory? Let us pray not.
Now comes the gruesome murder of two car dealers that are reminiscent of Mafia-style executions in the days of Al Capone. It was obviously not a simple case of carnapping gone haywire because the three victims were obviously gagged and tortured before being burned, along with their vehicles.
If these were simple carnapping cases, the suspects would have just dumped the victims somewhere and taken the vehicles, their supposed primary targets. But the victims were tortured and burned, obviously to send a gory message to other car dealers that they face the same fate if they crossed the syndicate’s path.
These criminal syndicates would not have been so bold to carry out these mob-style executions if they did not feel untouchable, like the Mafia dons of old. They have stolen thousands of cars, many of them luxury models, and have either harmed or killed some of the vehicle owners, and not one of them has been jailed for their crimes.
The alleged leader of a big carnap gang, Raymod Domingues, for example, has 28 carnapping cases against him in two provinces in Central Luzon and yet remains free until he sought police custody in the Bulacan police department because he said he feared for his life. To the credit of the Philippine National Police, they said they are treating it as surrender because Dominguez, along with his brother Roger and several others, has been implicated by two confessed participants in the carjack and murder of car dealers Venson Evangelista and Emerson Lozano and Lozano’s driver, Ernano Sensil.
Investigators looking for Dominguez’ coddlers should take a look first at the Bulacan police station. Why would Dominguez choose Bulacan police for protective custody, instead of, say, the National Bureau of Investigation? Obviously, he feels at ease with Bulacan police officers for some reason. And why would Dominguez, who appears cocky and arrogant, fear for his life? Who does he fear? Perhaps, his coddlers in the police establishment who could silence him to avoid detection?
Dominguez’ group and other carnapping syndicates would not have been able to ply their nefarious trade without the obvious connivance of policemen, and officials of the Highway Patrol Group and the Land Transportation Office, which is in charge of registering vehicles.
It shouldn’t be difficult to follow the paper trail, or to scour thru evidence, which shouldn’t be difficult to find. All they have to do is visit the offices of those used car dealers and used car parts dealers. I’m sure many of those used cars were either smuggled or stolen, and most of those used car parts came from stolen cars.
But they have to do it fast, because the evidence can be easily hidden. In fact, columnist Mon Tulfo revealed in a recent article that it is a known fact in Central Luzon that a river there is used to hide stolen cars. The stolen cars are submerged in the river for days and retrieved by a big crane later.
The government should show its resolve to go after these criminal syndicates and their coddlers. They victimize and terrorize the people, and like pests, destroy the foundations of government by corrupting the bureaucracy, the police and the military establishment. These criminals, coddlers and murderers should be jailed in a special prison beneath the ground, where they can be closer to hell where they will eventually belong.