Slain Grab driver’s car turns up in Quezon

RECOVERED A policeman secures the vehicle owned by slain Grab driver, Maria Cristina Palanca, after it was turned over to the Lucena City police. —PHOTO COURTESY OF LUCENA CITY POLICE

LUCENA CITY, Quezon, Philippines — The car of a female Grab driver, who turned up dead in a condominium unit in Cainta town, Rizal province, last week, was found in Lucena City on Tuesday, police said.

The recovery of the vehicle, a black Toyota Avanza, strengthened police suspicions that Paolo Largado, a former call center agent, was behind the killing of Maria Cristina Palanca, 43.

Palanca, a driver in the ride-hailing company, was reported missing by her family last week. Authorities found her body stuffed inside a kitchen sink cabinet at Largado’s condominium unit on Sunday night.

Autopsy showed Palanca died of suffocation.

Last booking

Col. Alvin Consolacion, Cainta police chief, on Wednesday said Largado, 34, was their primary suspect although police had yet to find out how he was related to Palanca.

“We did not find (Palanca’s) phone which could have shown us their communication,” Consolacion said in a telephone interview.

Grab records showed that the last booking made with Palanca was on May 23 at 1:18 p.m. when she dropped off a passenger at a subdivision in Pasig City.

Palanca went to Largado’s condominium in Barangay San Andres, Cainta, a 15-minute drive from her last location in Pasig. Her arrival was recorded by the building’s security camera.

Largado, however, did not book Palanca that day, police said.

“She was last seen [on CCTV] going up Largado’s unit on the fifth floor,” Consolacion said.

Police said Largado left the unit about an hour later and drove away on Palanca’s car.

Between May 23 and May 26, Largado would be seen in and out of the condominium but without the vehicle, police said.

On May 26, a tenant, who lives right below Largado’s unit, noticed liquid dripping from their ceiling.

“(The tenant) said it smelled really awful so she went to complain about it to Largado. The suspect’s reply was like, ‘Tumulo na pala (It started dripping),’” Consolacion said.

Police said that was the last time Largado was seen in the building. He left before authorities discovered Palanca’s decomposing body.

Police alert

Consolacion said investigators found out that Largado once stayed in Lucena, prompting them to alert the Quezon provincial police about the missing car.

On Tuesday morning, Mildred Salcedo and Marie John Almario, both residents of Barangay Cotta, surrendered the vehicle to the Lucena police after hearing the news about Palanca.

A report from the city police said Largado pawned the car for P30,000 on Monday afternoon and promised to claim it from Salcedo and Almario on June 2.