Photo by Gareth Likigan
MANILA, Philippines–The bus unit that plunged into a ravine in Bontoc, Mountain Province and killed 14 passengers was not actually a stolen vehicle, the Philippine National Police clarified Tuesday.
The clarification came in the wake of the PNP Highway Patrol Group statement that carjacking charges might be filed against GV Florida Bus Transport Inc. after authorities found that the Bontoc-bound unit had switched plate numbers with another unit.
Chief Superintendent Reuben Theodore Sindac, PNP Public Information Office chief, told reporters that there might have been a misinterpretation in the statement of HPG.
Shedding light on the confusion, Sindac stressed that the unit cannot be considered as a carjacked vehicle if the owner of the buses with interchanged plates is the same.
Sindac said transferring plates from one bus to another is a clear violation of Republic Act No. 6539 or the Anti-Carnapping Act of 1972.
“We would file cases against the operator for violating the Anti-Carnapping Law but that does not necessarily mean that they committed carnapping per se,” he said.
Based on the findings of Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board, the ill-fated bus was issued with a license plate that belonged to another bus to make it appear it could be used as a hired vehicle.
The LTFRB found also that the bus was authorized to operate under the name of Norberto Que Sr. of the Mt. Province Cable Tours who did not file an approval of sale and transfer to Florida Transport.
The transportation body then imposed a preventive suspension for 30 days on the 228 bus units of the bus operator.
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