Robredo, in a news conference in the Palace, said they want to look into the suspected collusion between the carnapping group and some government agencies that help perpetuate their illegal activity.

Robredo questioned how Raymond Dominguez, a suspected car thief who recently surrendered to authorities over the Evangelista slaying, managed to post bail several times in the past although one of the cases was a non-bailable offense.

Dominguez has denied having anything to do with the kidnap-slay of Venson Evangelista, whose charred body was found in Cabanatuan City, Nueva Ecija.

“There should be a thorough investigation to determine if Dominguez and his group have any cohorts in some government agencies,” Robredo said in Filipino. “Carnapping will not flourish if they have no cohorts that help register the stolen vehicles, if they don’t have cohorts in propagating this business,” he added.

Robredo added the Evangelista murder cases will not be closed until the police determine the motive behind the killing.

At present, he said Dominguez faces 31 criminal cases, including 20 carnapping cases. At least one of the complaints against Dominguez is non-bailable.

“We must investigate who helped him post bail in a non-bailable offense. Why was his motion to grant bail not opposed despite his many cases?” Robredo inquired.

He noted that Dominguez must have spent around P3.4 million in bail money in the 19 criminal cases alone. “I think we have to investigate the case further. I think it is difficult declare it a closed case,” he said.

Strong evidence

Director General Raul Bacalzo, chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP), said police have strong cases against Raymond and Roger Dominguez for the abduction and killing of Evangelista, as well as the carnapping of the latter’s Toyota Land Cruiser on January 13.

We have already identified the group... The evidence is strong. We just have to file the cases because that is what the law requires,” said Bacalzo.

Robredo meantime assured the public that police force is exerting its best effort to keep peace and order in the country in the wake of the violent carnapping cases and other criminal activities. He has ordered the reactivation of the POCs in Metro Manila as well as the increased police visibility and mobilized “force multipliers” to protect the people from lawless elements.

“We are confident in the next two to three weeks, we will be able to reverse the crime wave. We are actually better in 2010 than 2009 in so far as carnapping cases but we still assume accountability in making sure this crime wave will be arrested,” he said.

“We will like to assure the public that authorities will do best it can. We will not only arrest perpetrators but at the same time make sure this will not happen again,” he said.

Binay rejects POCs

But Makati City Mayor Jejomar Erwin Binay does not want Robredo to have a hand in the peace and order in the city, despite the carjacking of the high-end sports-utility vehicle of Margarita Fores, restaurateur and relative of former Senator Manuel Roxas II, in his jurisdiction.

Citing that “there is no convincing basis,” Binay has turned down a request by Robredo for an urgent meeting with the mayor, key city officials, and all police commanders, but instead asked the DILG chief to provide a basis for its “sudden interest” in the peace and order situation in the city.

“I need to understand the sudden interest in Makati and its peace and order situation, which appears to have been prompted by the car theft incident involving a relative of Mr. Mar Roxas, who is the president of the Liberal Party (LP) of which you are the executive vice president,” Binay said in a letter.

“Unless a convincing basis is provided, I regret that I must respectfully decline your request,” he added.

As Robredo looks into the possible links of some government official to the carnap syndicate, Chief Supt. Alan L.M. Purisima, Central Luzon police director, ordered his police investigators to dig deeper whether the Dominguez brothers have anything to do with the kidnap-slay of Evangelista and Emerson Lozano, son of Marcos lawyer Oliver Lozano.

Purisima said arrested suspect Alfred Mendiola had earlier confessed about his role in the killing of Evangelista and had linked the Dominguez group to Lozano’s murder.

No bail

As this developed, Senator Antonio Trillanes IV filed a bill that seeks to increase the penalty for carjackers and amend the 39-year-old law that has allowed criminal syndicates to openly engage in the illegal car trade.

Trillanes said he wanted to amend Republic Act No. 6539, the Anti-Carnapping Act of 1972, to make car theft a non-bailable offense under certain conditions and increase the penalties in light of the gruesome murders of car dealers Venson Evangelista and Emerson Lozano, and his driver, Ernane Sensil, by a suspected carjacking syndicate.

“It is time to plug the loopholes in the law that has allowed this reign of greed and terror of these criminal syndicates to persist despite the efforts of our law enforcement officers,” Trillanes explained.

Genalyn Kabiling & Czarina Nicole Ong, Manila Bulletin