A carnapping complaint filed against five Capitol employees by the wife of Rep. Eulogio Rodriguez has been dismissed by the Office of the Provincial Prosecutor for insufficiency of evidence.
The complaint was instituted by Merlinda Alaurin Rodriguez, the registered owner of ER Rodriguez Construction over the impoundment of a dump truck loaded with undocumented boulders last year.
In her affidavit, Rodriguez claimed that on Sept. 3, 2023 at about 3:30 PM, she caused the clearing of her lot in Batalay, Bato, with the rocks and debris loaded on the dump truck with plate number RLB301 for transfer to a nearby lot owned by the contractor in the same village.
While the boulders were being loaded, she alleged, five persons later identified as Edilberto Matienzo, Lito Cervantes, Jay Marquez, Reciel DJ Molina and Christ Benavidez “pretended to have power and authority to confiscate the dump truck.”
After threatening the driver, Edgar Vengado, the latter surrendered possession of the truck and drove it to the provincial capitol compound, giving the key to the respondents.
In his sworn affidavit, the driver said that the four employees of the Environment and Natural Resources Office (ENRO) did not allow him to call his employer prior to the confiscation of the truck.
In their joint counter-affidavit denying the allegations in the complaint, the respondents said they were authorized employees to apprehend conveyances and its load that were violating Provincial Ordinance No. 005-12 pursuant to their mandated duty under the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) V Special Order No. 2023-16 and an Office Order.
They claimed that on said date, the truck driver failed to present any document regarding the source and transport of boulders, prompting them to order him to bring the truck and its load to the provincial capitol for proper documentation.
The truck was turned over to the guard on duty as acknowledged by the driver himself in the logbook. The following day, the respondents prepared the Notice of Violation for the transport of aggregates without proper documentation and without cover.
ER Construction had not paid the fine and penalties in accordance with the Notice of Violation, they alleged.
They are not liable for carnapping as the apprehension and continues possession of the conveyance, including the aggregates loaded therein, were made as part of their duty as deputized officers of MGB and members of the GO-ENRO Monitoring Task Force and Enforcement Unit.
In resolving the matter, the Senior Assistant City Prosecutor Maria Theresa Cerillo stated that from the evidence presented by both parties, there was no unlawful taking, as the apprehension of the truck was done by respondents in the lawful performance of their duties.
The dump truck was impounded and in possession of the provincial government waiting for the owner of ER Construction to pay the fine and penalties in accordance with the Notice of Violation, the resolution emphasized.
“If the car was truly carnapped, why did the complainant fail to report the same to the police authorities?” she pointed out, noting that the incident was immediately reported by the driver to his employer.
Instead of reporting the same to the police, the complainant, thru counsel, only sent a letter of inquiry to the officer-in-charge of Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), asking for the legal grounds the taking and detention of the dump truck.
Records also showed that the complainant did not present proof when she actually made a demand for the respondents to return the vehicle, Prosecutor Cerillo noted, adding that in such absence of proof of the demand to return it, it will be difficult to establish when the respondents can be said to have committed the offense of carnapping.
The resolution approved by Assistant Provincial Prosecutor Francisco Samonte Jr. likewise stressed that there is no intent to gain as alleged by the complainant, who claimed that the respondents wanted to impress the governor and gain his approval, which the prosecutor said is not the intent to gain contemplated by law.