9 ‘rent tangay’ victims withdraw complaints

Nine people claiming to be victims of the "rent tangay" or car rental scam have withdrawn their complaints before the Department of Justice (DOJ) against the people behind the scheme.

Three of the complainants, namely, Michael Maniquiz, Cerelina Santos and Rosemarie Maniquiz, however, are in danger of facing perjury raps for making conflicting statements to the panel of prosecutors tasked to handle the complaints for large scale estafa.

During the second preliminary investigation hearing on Friday, the three complainants claimed the Philippine National Police Highway Patrol Group (PNP HPG) warned them that they would not be able to recover their vehicles unless they file criminal charges.

The three named a certain Mae Cruz as respondent.

"Sa affidavit ninyo sasabihin ninyo humingi kayo ng tulong sa HPG para ma-locate yung sasakyan, tapos ngayon sasabihin ninyo pinilit kayo ng HPG? Ano ba yan perjury ito, ha. Huwag kayo basta basta gawa gawa ng affidavits na hindi ninyo naiintindihan dinadala nyo dito sa DOJ. Hindi ito lokohan, seryoso ito,” Reyes said during the hearing.

In the same hearing, main suspect Rafaela Anunciacion filed her counter affidavit.

Her live-in partner and co-respondent, Tychicus Nambio, was not able to submit his written defense because he allegedly failed to receive to the summons from the DOJ.

Nambio said he recently moved to a new address.     

The PNP HPG has so far filed 47 complaints with the DOJ--29 for the first batch and 18 for the second batch.

According to the PNP HPG, interested car owners will be offered a P25,000 monthly rental for sedan, P35,000 monthly rental for AUVs, and P45,000 monthly rental for SUVs by the suspect/s and his/her cohorts.

“Not known to these car owners, their vehicles will be brought to areas in Calabarzon mostly in Silang, Cavite and nearby cities and municipalities being loaned/pawned to different individuals ranging from P200,000 for sedan; P300,000 for AUVs and P400,000 for SUVs with a promise of a 5 percent monthly rebate or return of investment," the police said.

Forty-six separate complaints for syndicated estafa and carnapping have also been forwarded by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

The next hearing was set for April 10.  — Virgil Lopez/RSJ, GMA News