2 arrested over murdered Grab driver’s stolen car

Two men were arrested and charged by operatives of the Highway Patrol Group (HPG) 7 on Monday, Dec. 3, after they attempted to sell a black car owned by a murdered Grab driver.

The suspects were identified as Anthony Dinawanaw Decierdo, 31, a native of Manukan, Zamboanga del Norte; and Paul Christian Go, 21, both residing in Urgello St., Barangay Sambag 1 in Cebu City.

The two men were arrested by HPG 7 operatives at the Cebu Business Park in Cebu City after the car they were trying to sell was found to have been used by Jiboy Alegado, a 41-year-old Grab driver who was murdered last November.

Alegado’s body was found in a secluded area in Barangay Langub, Asturias town last Nov. 13.

While Decierdo and Go denied the allegations against them, Alegado’s wife, Marites, positively identified the two men as the suspects behind her husband’s murder.

Supt. Hersan Mojica, HPG 7 deputy chief, said they were able to locate the two suspects after tracing Alegado’s missing Nissan Almera with plate number OY 2428.

The vehicle was registered to a certain Constantino Cuyos.

Mojica said that on Monday, Dec. 3, his operatives started tracing the whereabouts of Alegado’s missing car through social media.

It was during their social media searches that they found a black Nissan Almera which had the same description as that of Alegado’s missing car.

The vehicle was being sold by a known online seller for P379,000 and was already complete with documents, including the identity of the seller.

But unlike Alegado’s car, it already had a different plate number.

However, Mojica said they were curious about the vehicle especially since it no longer had a conduction sticker issued by the Land Transportation Office (LTO).

The conduction sticker is supposed to show in what region the vehicle was sold.

To check if their suspicions were true, HPG 7 operatives arranged a meeting with the alleged dealer at Negros Road at the Cebu Business Park.

At 7 p.m. on the same day, HPG 7 operatives met with Go and Decierdo at the arranged meeting place.

While inspecting the car, HPG 7 operatives found that the car’s chassis and engine number matched those in Cuyos’ official receipt and certificate of registration.

HPG 7 operatives immediately identified themselves and informed Go and Decierdo that the vehicle they were selling had been stolen from somebody else.

Mojica said they can’t charge the two men for murdering Alegado since there is still no evidence to prove they were behind it.

“We arrested them for the possession of a stolen vehicle. Sa kasong ito lang ang ifa-file natin sa kanila kasi wala pa tayong ebidensya na sila talaga ang pumatay doon sa driver,” Mojica said.

But in a separate interview, Go and Decierdo denied they stole Alegado’s car, saying that it was pawned to them on Nov. 9.

Go and Decierdo were able to provide a name of the person who pawned them the car, but HPG 7 operatives won’t divulge it as they are considering him a “person of interest.”

Go said they had an agreement with the pawner that he would retrieve the car from them after a couple of days.

But the two men decided to sell the car after the pawner could no longer be contacted through his phone.

But Marites, Alegado’s widow, positively identified Go and Decierdo for her husband’s death, saying they usually rent their car.

SunStar Cebu tried to contact Grab Philippines, but their representatives refused to issue a statement concerning Alegado’s death.

Khizzy Pasigan, Grab Philippines public relations manager, said they cannot release their drivers’ personal information as this is confidential in nature.

“About the victim’s last transaction, we can only give this to the police upon request. We will cooperate with the police to supply the needed information to speed up the investigation. I’m afraid that we cannot share this information publicly as of the moment, as it may affect ongoing negotiation,” Pasigan said.