Two vehicles with the number 8 protocol plates reserved for members of the House of Representatives were recovered by the Philippine National Police-Highway Patrol Group in Pasig City on Friday.
The PNP-HPG recovered a red Chevrolet Suburban and a black Ford E150 on the same day that the vehicle owned by musician Jojo Valerio was confiscated. Valerio’s Toyota FJ Cruiser earlier figured in a road rage incident captured on video which later went viral in social media.
READ: Police recover vehicle used in viral road rage video |
READ: ‘I was spat at… so I punched him,’ says road rage suspect Valerio
The Chevrolet Suburban even had stickers of logos of the Office of the President on the front windshield and of the House of Representatives on the rear windshield.
LOOK: Two vehicles with the “8” protocol plate were recovered by the PNP-HPG in Pasig City Friday. One of the vehicles even had the logo of the Office of the President and House of Representatives. @inquirerdotnet pic.twitter.com/5Vd1xk5Epn
— Cathrine Gonzales (@CGonzalesINQ) November 16, 2018
Senior Inspector Atanacio Alvarez, team leader of the Task Force Limbas Mobile 14, told INQUIRER.net that a concerned citizen called the police unit about the vehicles parked at Trinidad Homes Subdivision in Barangay Manggahan, Pasig City. His team then launched the operation that led to the recovery of the vehicles.
READ: Incidents that put No. ‘8’ car plates in bad light
Alvarez said the owner of both vehicles claimed that the number 8 protocol plates and the stickers were already attached when these were given to him as payment for a debt.
Earlier, PNP-HPG Director Chief Supt. Roberto Fajardo warned that the Land Transportation Office has not issued new number 8 protocol plates since the 16th Congress.
He said using these expired plates is unauthorized, and would lead to the confiscation of the vehicles and a fine of P5,000./ac
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