MANILA, Philippines - Owners of car dealers fear the emergence of a new syndicate that not only steals a car being test-driven but also kills the owner of the car.

With the recent killing of Emerson Lozano and the continued disappearance of Venson Evangelista, car dealers say authorities should hunt down this syndicate because it is now becoming dangerous to buy and sell cars.

To protect themselves from potential danger, some dealers do not let their cars to be test-driven alone, or they ask one of their helpers to go with the potential buyer every time a potential buyer insists on a test drive.

Meantime, Boy Evangelista, father of Venson, wants carjacking to be made a non-bailable offense.

Evangelista notes that car thieves are growing bolder, as shown from recent cases were victims were murdered.
   
Evangelista says previous cases only involved the theft of the vehicle, and victims are released unharmed. -- with ANC