SBMA probes car rental scam in Subic free port

Lawyer Randy Escolango, deputy administrator for legal affairs of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, inspects the missing vehicles allegedly involved in a car rental scam. —ALLAN MACATUNO

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT—Officials of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) on Friday launched an investigation of a possible large-scale car rental scam here after six stolen vehicles ended up in the yard of a free port locator.

Lawyer Randy Escolango, SBMA deputy administrator for legal affairs, turned over the vehicles recovered from the Ichiban truck yard inside the free port to the National Bureau of Investigation.

The vehicles were reported missing last December after the owners rented these out to one Roldan Bernardo.

On Wednesday, officials recovered a Toyota Grandia van, a Toyota Fortuner, two units of Mitsubishi Montero and two commuter vehicles from the Ichiban truck yard.

The owners sought the help of the Olongapo City police and the SBMA to recover the vehicles. But the NBI said these vehicles were already under their custody when the police and the SBMA intervened.

The recovered vehicles were turned over to the NBI on March 2 by a former Zambales official, said NBI special agent, Norman Revita.

Revita said they brought the vehicles to the Ichiban yard for safekeeping for “lack of ample [parking space]” at the NBI office in Olongapo. He said the NBI was undertaking its own investigation when the SBMA announced the recovery of the vehicles.

Despite this, the SBMA asked the Ichiban Import-Export Corp. to explain why it held the missing vehicles and why the agency should not revoke its certificate of registration and tax exemption for possessing stolen goods.

“There might be other similar cases of a car rental scam taking place right inside the free port. That’s what we are going to investigate,” Escolango told the Inquirer.

“The [SBMA] will not tolerate any form of criminality inside the [free port],” said SBMA Administrator Wilma Eisma. —ALLAN MACATUNO