CALUMPIT, Bulacan—Eldest and second to the eldest of a brood of four males, brothers Roger and Raymond Dominguez, alleged leaders of a notorious carjack gang are just simple and ordinary sons of one of a wealthy family in a village here and are not known to be involved in any criminal activities.
Ambrocio Talampas, 64, who lives just some blocks away from the brother’s house in Barangay Iba Este said they have not known any of them as carjackers and many of them are caught by surprise when they saw on the news the former young boys in their neighborhood are involved in series of car theft and even murder.
“Halos lahat kami rito nagulat na lang sa biglang balitang ganun, dito kasi mga simple at ordinaryong mga kapitbahay lang sila. Nakita naming mga lumaki iyon at mababait naman sila,” Talampas, a retired employee at a nearby paper mill company in this town told NEWS CORE Monday.
According to him, Roger, 29 was even known to have entered a seminary school and Raymond, 26 actively participates during fiesta events in their barangay.
Talampas said the two came from one of the most few well off families in their village and need not to even work for themselves in order to live because their parents can fully sustain even their luxury living including if they would have their own respective families.
The father of the Dominguez brothers is a well respected retired head of a private financial company and their mother is engage in rice farm business and owns at least seven threshers or rice mills.
However, he said, if there is any truth on what the police accused and charged the two brothers, they are not aware of that because he said the brothers also stay and live for quite sometime in Metro Manila.
A woman neighbor who refused to be named said they also known the Dominguez brothers as quiet and simple residents. However, the woman in her early 50’s said they do not know if the two have been in criminal syndicate operation recently and refused to further give comments. “Mahirap ng magsalita, pero iyon lang, mababait naman sila,” she said.
Betty Dominguez, 54, the mother of Roger and Raymond who was interviewed by this reporter on phone on Monday denied her children are carjack gang leaders and who own the safe houses which were raided by the police where numbers of plate numbers and believed carjack vehicles were recovered.
She said the implications made by the police to her sons to the recent spate of killings of car dealer Venson Evangelista and Emerson Lozano and his driver Ernani Sensil all just came about when the kin of Dianne Santos, a member of the Bay Walk Bodies who was found dead last Dec. 29 points to Raymond as the alleged killer.
But she said that could be very impossible because she only fetch Raymond from the Bulacan Provincial Jail 4pm on that day while the dead body of Santos was found at around 3:45 am right after the north bound lane of the Tabang Toll entry of the North Luzon Expressway.
“Nakikiangkas pa ang nanay ni Rejoice sa kaso laban sa mga anak ko. Dun sila una na-implicate e napaka-imposibleng mangyaring si Raymond ang pumatay kay Rejoice, alas kuwatro ng hapon ng December 29 ng sinundo ko si Raymond sa Jail at ng iuwi ko siya dito, dito siya sa akin nakatira” she said.
Betty said it is at their house in Iba Este where Raymond went straight after his release at the Bulacan Provincial Jail on that day.
She also denied Roger and Raymond’s being alleged carjackers and are the hands behind the said killings of Evangelista and Lozano as Raymond was attending court hearing on previous charges filed against him at the Bulacan Regional Trial Courts (RTC) in Malolos City on the said dates the said victims were killed.

Ondoy-damaged cars
Betty said the car dealer business of her son boomed following typhoon Ondoy where several cars and other vehicles were destroyed b y floods which were the ones repaired and are being sold. She said all those vehicles are acquired in legal process as owners are known and have their own car insurances.
She also denies that Roger owns all the apartments which were raided by the police as alleged safe houses of the two. “Hindi lahat iyon ay kay Ogie, ang dami na tuloy nadamay,” she said.
According to the mother, she owns seven thresher machines and she is in rice farming business and that she can provide for all the material needs of all her four children and there is no need for them to engage in illegal car business just to sustain their living. “Kahit hindi pa sila magtrabaho, kaya ko silang buhayin, pito ang thresher ko at nagpapatanim ako ng palay”.

No longer watching, reading news
Betty said she and her husband who used to read newspapers and watch TV for news and other current events have stopped even making a glance on all the news on TV and newspapers and even hear from a radio station when all the news and implications about their sons came out.
“Hindi na kami nanonood ng TV ngayon, kahit magbasa ng diyaryo o making ng radyo, nasasaktan lang kami at naiiyak, puro mga anak namin ang nasa news. Sa Inquirer naka front page pa ang mukha ni Raymond. Hamo na lang lumabas ang katotohanan,” she said.
She said Raymond was a former computer science student at Centro Escolar University and Roger attended classes and graduated with a degree of electronics communication engineering at the Bulacan State University (BulSU).

Ogie, studious, kind classmate
Jay Salamat, a Bulacan provincial capitol employee who was a former classmate in Automotive Vocational course of Roger in BulSU said they could have not believed Roger would be involved in carjacking operations because they have known him to be studious, intelligent and very kind.
“Mabait iyan si Roger, tahimik at simple bukod pa sa matalino at masipag mag-aral. Hindi kami makapaniwalang magagawa niya ang mga ibinibintang sa kanya. May pagkamahiyain pa nga iyan at parang Mama’s boy,” Salamat said.
He said members of their batch were all just surprised when they saw on the news that Roger is being implicated in the said murders and have series of carjack cases filed against him in courts.

No more surrender for Ogie
Lawyer Joey Cruz who also said he had stopped watching news on TV and reading newspapers with all the bad and negative news about his clients told NEWS CORE Roger’s earlier plan to surrender will no longer pursue today while carjack and homicide complaints are now under preliminary investigation before the Quezon City Prosecutor’s Office.
“Malabo na siguro, unless mag-issue ng warrant ang court,” he said.
Cruz said they expect the elements of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Team (CIDT) who filed the complaints against his clients including private complainants will submit their reply and evidence at the scheduled continuation of the preliminary hearing today.
He said it is still depends on the Prosecutor whether to file a case against the Dominguez brothers in court.
Raising alleged human rights violation committed by the police when they handcuffed Raymond during his transfer from Camp Gen. Alejo Santos here to Camp Crame on Monday night last week when there was no existing warrant of arrest issued against his client, Cruz said he will present Roger to court once the charged are filed in court and a warrant of arrest is issued.
Cruz said the detailing by Justice Secretary Laila De Lima of women prosecutor to review the previous cases filed against Raymond and Roger Dominguez in Bulacan and Pampanga courts is a welcome development to them because it will lead to a deeper re-investigation of the cases that which may even favor the brothers.
Raymond had been charged of eleven cases of carjacking, one of those cases is carjacking with homicide in different courts at the Bulacan RTC while Roger with two dismissed cases of carjacking in Bulacan and nine separate carjack cases in Pampanga. Other cases filed against Raymond at the Bulacan RTC branches are robbery, illegal drugs and violation to Omnibus Election Code (gun ban).
Cruz said all the carjacked vehicles in the cases filed against his clients especially of Raymond’s cases remained missing and were not recovered even up to this time.
Cruz also assail as absurd the theory and claim of the police that they have recovered the burnt driver’s license from one of the alleged safe houses of the Dominguez brothers which they raided.
“Kung ikaw ba ang suspect iuuwi mo pa sa lukbutan mo ang gamit ng isang taong pinatay mo, ebidensiya laban sa iyo yun at hindi mo gagawin iyon,” he said.