Kin smell foul play in SUV death of UP coed
MANILA, Philippines -- The family of a young coed who died last week after being dragged under her own SUV (sports utility vehicle) in what police considered as an accident, smell foul play and called for further investigation.
The Pagauitan family appealed to the Antipolo police to conduct a more exhaustive probe on the death of their young kin Ma. Lourdes Pagauitan as they suspect that one of the victim's friends may be culpable for her death.
The 19-year-old University of the Philippines student was pinned down by her own Mitsubishi Pajero early Thursday morning in Cogeo, Antipolo city after coming home from a night-out with friends at a bar along Sumulong Highway.
Pagauitan, who is fondly called Lalaine by her relatives, was accidentally run over by her car around 5:30 a.m, Thursday, when she walked in front of it after alighting the parked vehicle.
Police suspected that Lalaine could have forgotten to engage her handbrake causing the SUV to roll forward and to drag her. Some of Lalaine's friends were also left inside the car when she alighted and was only roused from their sleep after the vehicle had already dragged Lalaine.
But Ruben Pagauitan, Lalaine's granduncle, suspect that the incident may not be purely a case of neglect on his granddaughter's part.
“I smell something messy. We speculate that there's a cover-up somewhere,” he said.
He said the witness account of one of the victim's friends, Jericho Jatico, specifically pointed to Carlo Gomez (also one of Lalaine's friends) as the one who went to the driver's seat after Lalaine alighted the vehicle.
Jatico's account, which was obtained by the INQUIRER, said that Gomez “may have bumped [“tabig”] the vehicle's gear selector” when he sat at the driver's seat which caused the vehicle to move.
Jatico, who was then seated at the back of the SUV, recounted that all seven other passengers inside the car alighted after the vehicle's sudden movement knocked down a wire fence.
It was when they saw that Lalaine was pinned beneath the SUV and tried to get her out of it.
The elder Pagauitan also said that police's theory that Lalaine may have forgotten to engage her handbrake is incorrect.
The police, he said, failed to mention that Lalaine's Pajero is an automatic transmission vehicle, that would not move in a “park” mode and would still need the push of an accelerator in order to move in a “drive” mode.
Thus, he said, if Lalaine indeed placed the gear in a wrong mode, someone would still need to step on the accelerator to cause the car to move.
“We are not pointing the blame on anybody. What we are only after is the truth. Somebody else seems to be responsible. If Carlo shifted the gear to a drive position, is this accidental? What is the motive?” asked Pagauitan.
Pagauitan also lamented insinuations in the police report that Lalaine was under the influence of alcohol the night of the incident.
He said the police relied only on witness accounts and did not even conduct their own investigation to find out if the alcohol claim was true.
Rizal provincial Chief of Police Supt. Ireneo Dordas said in an interview Sunday that he has already instructed the Antipolo police contingents handling the case to expedite investigations and look into the possibility of a foul play in Lalaine's death.
“The Antipolo police are now working to get additional information to find out if there is foul play here,” said Dordas.
Pagauitan said the family has already requested an autopsy for Lalaine's body to prepare to build a case on the incident.