2 men caught with stolen vehicle in Valenzuela

MANILA, Philippines—The Valenzuela City police arrested on Sunday morning two men who allegedly stole the vehicle of a town mayor in Bulacan province, which was being driven by his son.

Investigator Senior Police Officer 3 Jesus Sagisi told the Inquirer that Ronald Mamaril, 44, and Jun Galsote, 39, both natives of Pangasinan, were arrested by policemen based on a tip that two armed and suspicious-looking men had checked into the Garden Inn motel in Paso de Blas, Valenzuela City.

Mamaril and Galsote had just boarded a silver Toyota Hilux with plate number RGW 479 when they were accosted by responding policemen at around 8 a.m. According to Sagisi, the two were armed with a .38-cal. and a .45-cal. pistol. “Then the police noticed that the license plate does not match the kind of vehicle they were using,” Sagisi said.

If a license plate starts with the letter “R,” this means that it was imported, he explained. “But the vehicle was a Toyota Hilux. You don’t import that,” Sagisi added.

A source said that policemen later discovered that the license plate was not the one issued to the vehicle. A check made by the anticar theft unit subsequently showed that the Hilux was registered to Paombong Mayor Donato Marcos and that it was reported stolen on March 3 in Manila.

Charges for illegal possession of firearms and for violation of the anticar theft law are being readied against Mamaril and Galsote, who are detained at the Valenzuela City police headquarters.—Kristine Felisse Mangunay