The supposed niece of Pilar Pilapil’s partner who supposedly invited and accompanied her to a business meeting on the night she was stabbed and nearly killed has been named suspect to the crime, police said Monday.
Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit (CIDG) chief Samuel Pagdilao Jr. said Rosel Peñas is now the subject of a manhunt operation along with two other male suspects in the stabbing incident.
“Her failure to surface after the incident and the fictitious circumstances surrounding her personality have convinced authorities that she is a suspect and not a victim," Pagdilao said in a statement.
Pagdilao said Peñas was considered a suspect after she was spotted in Metro Manila driving the same gold Kia Carens (CIZ-888), where Pilapil was attacked, a day after the incident.
He said Peñas also allegedly made false statements when she told Pilapil that she was in Australia prior to the date of the attack, since records from the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) showed she never left the country days before Pilapil’s stabbing.
Peñas supposedly invited Pilapil to a business meeting last April 14 when the actress was stabbed by two men at the Marikina Riverbanks. She was later dumped in a grassy area in Antipolo City.
Police ruled out carjacking as motive behind the attack since no report of the incident has been filed before the Philippine National Police (PNP)’s Highway Patrol Group.
Authorities are now looking at robbery as the possible reason behind the incident, as they gather specific evidence on Peñas and the two other suspects’ involvement in the case.
The task force probing the Pilapil case has earlier released artist's sketches of the actress’ alleged attackers.
Senior Superintendent Joel Napoleon Coronel, head of Task Force Pilapil, said they are considering filing a case of robbery with serious physical injuries against Peñas and the two still unidentified male suspects. - KBK
