The Manila Police District is on the hunt for a village watchman who allegedly ordered three local teenagers to disassemble a stolen motorcycle.
The watchman, whom police identified as Mario Bartolina of Tondo, eluded the arresting cops by climbing onto the roofs of shanties along Juan Luna on Tuesday morning.
Police Officer 2 Melchor Nuñez said the manhunt against Bartolina is based on information provided to police by the three teenagers that they parted out a violet ChongQing motorcycle “on orders of a barangay tanod.”
The three were nabbed in an alley along Canal del Reina along Juan Luna about 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday
The suspects told reporters Bartolina of promised them cash for the job. They said they did not know how much Bartolina would have paid them.
“We also didn’t know it was stolen. He just approached us and told us to do the job,” said one 17-year-old suspect.
His accomplices,Rolando Austria and Erick Tudla, are both 19 years old.
Although the allegedly crooked watchman escaped, cops recovered Bartolina’s identification card and some chopped parts of the vehicle from the trio. Nuñez said the vehicle’s chassis number had been erased and replaced with the number zero. However, when brought to the Highway Patrol Group for macro-etching, the police were able to retrieve its real chassis number.
Nuñez said the four will be charged for violating the anti-carnapping law.
Barangay tanods or watchment assist with local peace and order but are not members of the Philippine National Police.
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Photo: Juan Luna in Tondo, Manila | Dotstartup
