6 nabbed for carjacking Baguio City-bound van;Cops rescue passengers

By Mar T. Supnad

URDANETA CITY, Pangasinan – City police here nabbed four carjackers/kidnappers and rescued two of their victims at a checkpoint Thursday in front of the PUNP school along Maharlika Highway here in Barangay San Vicente.

Urdaneta City police chief Supt Rodolfo Castil said the rescued victims, identified as Zenaida Gaza-Lorenzo, 58, and Cecilia Gasa, 50, were bound for Baguio City aboard their Toyota Hi-Ace Van (RGE-343) when they were held at gunpoint around 4 p.m. by the suspects at a gas station in Barangay Saitan, Rosario, La Union.

The suspects then drove the vehicle taking with them the two victims.

Swiftly setting up a checkpoint upon receipt of the reported incident, members of the Urdaneta police led by Insp Gerard Antonio intercepted and recovered the stolen vehicle, rescued the victims, and apprehended the four suspects identified as: Mark Rey Bautista, 25, of Manila and resident of Angeles City; Edwin Solis, 23, of Marikina City; Jayson Ceneta, 22 of Laguna and resident of Pasay City; and Arjay Afable, 21of Iloilo.

In Camp Florendo, Chief Supt. Ramon Gatan, Region 1 police director, commnded Urdanety police for arresting the suspects.

The police also recovered from the suspects one Cal. 45 pistol with magazine and six bullets, two packaging tapes, and two bags containing the suspects’ clothes.

This, as the safehouse of the four suspects arrested yielded a stolen car and undetermined volume of shabu and marijuana.

Senior Supt. Jesus Manubay, head of the Highway Patrol Group in Region 1, said operatives of HPG-Pangasinan led by Chief Insp. Romeo Mon, HPG-Tarlac and policemen in Moncada, Tarlac discovered the safehouse Saturday in Barangay Camanggaan East in Moncada, Trlac during a follow-up operation.

“The vehicle, a red Nissan Sentra owned by the Lion Chemical Corp. was seized by the same suspects after they pointed a gun to the driver, a certain Rhoda Visconde and a female companion, while they are at a foodchain along Barangay Pag-asa, Quezon City on the night of June 13,” Manubay said, quoting his report to HPG Director Orlando Mabutas.

Manubay said the raiding team, witnessed by barangay officials, also recovered inside the car eight plastic sachets of shabu and 29 sachets of marijuana.

Manubay said Visconde and his companion identified two of the suspects as the perpetrators in the car theft while one of the suspects admitted they held the victim and stole her vehicle.

Manubay said they will file charges against the suspects in Quezon City while the Rosario police filed carjacking, kidnapping and illegal possession of firearm against them.