Authorities have already identified the owner of the sports utility vehicle (SUV) that was allegedly used as a getaway vehicle of the suspects in the ambush of Aparri Vice Mayor Rommel Alameda and his five companions in Bagabag, Nueva Vizcaya on Sunday.
In an interview, PNP spokesperson Col. Jean Fajardo said the special investigation task group (SITG) has the name of the owner of the Mitsubishi Adventure, which was found burned in Solano town on Monday morning.
However, Fajardo said authorities are still not sure if the registered owner was the current possessor of the vehicle.
She added that the initial investigation showed the vehicle’s chassis and engine numbers had tampered but the Highway Patrol Group (HPG) was able to lift them.
On Sunday morning, individuals in pixelated police uniforms ambushed Aparri Vice Mayor Rommel Alameda and his associates while they were traveling to Manila in a black Hyundai Starex van. The suspects fired the van in front of the M.V. Duque Elementary School in Sitio Kinacao, Barangay Baretbet.
The five slain aides were identified as John Duane Alameda, Abraham Dela Cruz Ramos Jr., Alvin Dela Cruz Abel, Agustin Delos Angeles, and Ismael Tumaru Nanay Sr.
The white SUV that the unidentified gunmen used was caught on closed-circuit television (CCTV).
The LTO-Nueva Vizcaya said the killers used a fake motor vehicle plate as the original plates, similar to the one attached to the Mitsubishi Adventure, are intact and safe in the LTO storage room.
According to Marietta Flores, chief of the LTO-Nueva Vizcaya, the two original plates SFN 713 have been in the possession of the LTO since March 2019.
