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MANILA, Philippines — The owner of the sports utility vehicle (SUV) involved in the viral hit-and-run incident in Mandaluyong City surrendered to the Philippine National Police (PNP) on Wednesday.
During the Pulis @ Ur Serbis program hosted by UNTV and held at Camp Crame, the driver and owner of the Toyota RAV4 identified as Jose Antonio Sanvicente showed up following mounting calls from the public and the national police to face the charges against him.
But according to Sanvicente’s lawyer, they were not really pressured by the police’s call for them to surrender, saying the person of interest showed up to talk to lawyers and clear things out.
“Hindi naman under pressure but I think the proper remedy is kailangan magpakita siya to diffuse the public perception na nagtatago siya, at saka para ma-interview namin siya personally kung ano’ng nangyari,” the lawyer said.
“You cannot defend a person in his absence, you cannot. Kailangan malaman namin ang katotohanan. Ang katotohanan will set you free, ‘di ba,” he added.
Sanvicente’s appearance came days after police failed to find him after the incident on June 5, as Sanvicente did not attend Land Transportation Office (LTO) hearings, which also led to the revocation of his driver’s license.
He was not found at the residence of his father, but Sanvicente’s lawyer said that police might have been looking at the wrong place.
“Siguro let’s clarify, kaninong bahay ang pinuntahan. Baka ‘yong bahay na pinuntahan ay ‘yong bahay ng parents niya. Let us make this clear: ang registration, ang address niya sa registered owner of the car, ‘yon ang bahay ng tatay niya,” the lawyer said.
“Pero nakausap ko ang tatay niya sabi niya matagal nang wala si Anton doon, matagal na, hindi niya bahay ‘yon, bahay ng tatay niya,” he added.
READ: LTO revokes driver’s license of SUV owner in Mandaluyong hit-and-run
It could be recalled that on June 5, a Toyota RAV4 bearing the plate number NCO 3781 was caught on a dashboard camera bumping and then running over a security guard managing the traffic along Doña Julia Vargas Avenue.
As a result, the victim sustained several injuries and had to be monitored at the hospital’s intensive care unit.
READ: Security guard injured after hit-and-run incident in Mandaluyong