PNP-HPG returns 58 recovered carnapped vehicles to owners

MANILA — The Philippine National Police Highway Patrol Group (PNP-HPG) has returned 58 recovered carnapped vehicles, including seven motorcycles, to their rightful owners following a series of anti-carnapping operations nationwide.

HPG acting director PBGen. Joyce Patrick Sangalang said 23 of the vehicles were recovered through technical carnapping investigations, while the remaining 35 were retrieved through flag-down operations, checkpoints, and other anti-carnapping operations.

“These operations were guided by database-based information on vehicles with local alarms, allowing our personnel to identify and intercept suspected carnapped vehicles,” Sangalang said.

The HPG is also conducting a nationwide inventory and verification of impounded vehicles to facilitate their immediate release to legitimate owners.

Sangalang said the agency first verifies ownership and the authenticity of documents, particularly the Official Receipt and Certificate of Registration (OR/CR), before releasing any recovered vehicle.

“Medyo may criticality kasi ito for the technical mode of carnapping, doon sa mga pasalo scheme, doon sa ating mga rentangay, renta-sangla, ‘yung mga loan accommodations,” Sangalang said.

“So before releasing these vehicles, there is a process the HPG is doing and of course, we need to verify the authenticity of these documents. At the same time, the real owner,” he added.

He warned the public against buying second-hand vehicles without personally meeting the registered owner, citing the growing number of cases involving so-called rentangay and pasalo schemes.

In these schemes, vehicles are rented or obtained through loan arrangements and then pawned or sold to unsuspecting buyers, sometimes using fake OR/CRs.

Sangalang said some buyers only discover the irregularities when they apply for a transfer of ownership at the Land Transportation Office (LTO), where the documents are subjected to verification.

He advised prospective buyers to have second-hand vehicles checked with the HPG’s Motor Vehicle Clearance Division and the LTO before completing any transaction.

The HPG chief also disclosed that 1,321 vehicles have already been released out of 2,615 inventoried units, leaving 1,294 vehicles still in their custody under different circumstances, including discrepancies in ownership records and pending criminal proceedings.

Among the reasons vehicles remain impounded are unlocated registered owners, pending criminal cases, unclaimed vehicles despite the lifting of alarms, and cases requiring the restoration of tampered engine and chassis numbers.

Meanwhile, Sangalang reiterated that police personnel are strictly prohibited from using recovered, impounded, or evidence vehicles under their custody.

He cited Section 9 of Memorandum Circular 25-049, which prohibits PNP personnel from using such vehicles for personal purposes.

He said personnel found violating the policy would face sanctions.