TWO men were arrested and charged by operatives of the Highway Patrol Group (HPG) 7 on Monday, December 3, after they attempted to sell a black car owned by a murdered Grab driver.
The suspects were identified as Anthony Dinawanaw Decierdo, 31, a native of Manukan, Zamboanga del Norte; and Paul Christian Go, 21, both residing in Urgello Street, Barangay Sambag 1 in Cebu City.
The two men were arrested by HPG 7 operatives at the Ayala Business Park in Cebu City after the car they were trying to sell was found to have been used by Jiboy Alegado, a 41-year-old Grab driver who was murdered last November.
Alegado’s body was found in a secluded area in Barangay Langub, Asturias town last November 13.
While Decierdo and Go denied the allegations against them, Alegado’s wife, Marites, positively identified the two men as the suspects behind her husband’s murder.
Supt. Hersan Mojica, HPG 7 deputy chief said they were able to locate the two suspects after tracing Alegado’s missing Nissan Almera with plate number OY 2428.
The vehicle was registered to a certain Constantino Cuyos.
Mojica said that on Monday, December 3, his operatives started tracing the whereabouts of Alegado’s missing car through social media searches.
It was then when they found a black Nissan Almera matching the same description as that of Alegado’s missing car being sold online.
The vehicle was being sold by a known online seller for P379, 000 and that it had complete documents, including the identity of the seller.
It however had a different plate number.
Mojica said they got curious about the the vehicle since it no longer had a conduction sticker issued from the Land Transportation Office (LTO).
The conduction sticker is supposed to reflect the region from which the vehicle was sold.
To check if their suspicions were true, HPG 7 operatives arranged a meeting with the alleged dealer at Negros Road at the Ayala Business Park.
On 7 p.m. on Dec. 3, HPG 7 operatives met with Go and Decierdo at the arranged meeting place.
While inspecting the car, HPG 7 operatives found that the car’s chassis and engine number matched to that of Cuyos’ official receipt and certificate of registration.
At that moment, HPG 7 operatives immediately identified themselves and informed Go and Decierdo that the vehicle they were selling was stolen from somebody else.
Mojica said they can’t charge the two men for murdering Alegado since there is still no evidence to prove they were behind it.
“We arrested them for the possession of a stolen vehicle, sa kasong ito lang ang ipa file natin sa kanila kase wala pa tayong ebedensya na sila talaga ang pumatay duon sa driver,” Mojica said.
But in a separate interview, Go and Decierdo denied they stole Alegado’s car, adding that it was pawned to them on November 9.
Go and Decierdo were able to provide a name of the person who pawned them the car but HPG 7 operatives won’t divulge it as the person is considered a “person of interest.” Go said they had an agreement with the pawner that he would retrieve the car from them after a couple of days.
But the two men decided to sell the car after the pawner can no longer be contacted through his phone.
“Wala naman namo ma contact tung nagprenda maong nakadesisyon mi nga ibaligya nalang, wala koy idea anang nahitabo sa Asturias na shock nalang mi nga gipara mi,” Go said.
Chief Insp. Roger Quijano, Asturias town police chief, will be closely coordinating with the HPG 7 in interrogating the two suspects during the investigation on Alegado’s death.
Quijano said it will be their task to look for evidence to determine if the two men were indeed involved in Alegado’s murder.
But for Marites, Alegado’s widow, she positively identified Go and Decierdo for her husband’s death.
“Mao gyud na sila sir kay ang tuyo ana nila mao gyud ang sakyanan, okey lang unta to nga gikuha ra niya ang sakyanan wala lang unta niya unsaa ang akong bana,” Marites said.
Both Go and Decierdo underwent inquest proceedings before the Cebu Provincial Prosecutor’s Office for alleged carnapping on Tuesday, December 4.
SunStar Cebu tried to contact Grab Philippines but their representatives refused to issue a statement concerning Alegado’s death.
Khizzy Pasigan, Grab Philippines public relations manager, said they cannot release their drivers’ personal information as these are confidential in nature.
"About the victim’s last transaction, we can only give this to the police upon request. We will cooperate with the police to supply the needed information to speed up the investigation. I’m afraid that we cannot share this information publicly as of the moment as it may affect ongoing negotiation," Pasigan said.
But she assured that they are willing to help their driver-partners and their potential customers.
“Definitely, in cases like these, we make sure that our driver partners and passengers are given assistance. We are running our own internal investigation on the issue,” Pasigan added. (AYB of Superbalita Cebu)