THE National Police said on Monday that the investigation into the stabbing of actress Pilar Pilapil is now focused on locating her companion at the time of the incident, Rossel Jacosalem Penas, and recovery of her Kia wagon.

“Our principal objective as of this moment is to locate the whereabouts of Rossel Jacosalem Penas. Number two is to recover as soon as possible the vehicle used in the incident, which is a gold-colored Kia, probably a family wagon type,” said the Task Group Pilapil commander, Senior Supt. Napoleon Coronel.

Penas was the one driving the vehicle when she and Pilapil were attacked by two armed men at the Riverbanks Mall in Marikina City on Thursday last week. Pilapil provided over the weekend the description of one of the assailants who stabbed her.

Coronel and Chief Supt. Samuel Pagdilao, Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) commander, however, said they do not know yet the identity of Pilapil’s attacker, but were comparing his computer “identikit” sketch with those in the rogue gallery.

“At this time we have not given a name to this person so, in short, we have not generally identified [him]. What we are now doing is to use this [sketch] to compare with [pictures in the] rogues gallery that we have, and also we are running a check with other agencies that might be able to identify this with the files they have,” Pagdilao said.

The CIDG chief said investigators also need information about the vehicle.

“That is one of the information that we really badly need to help us in the investigation. That’s why we have the Highway Patrol Group getting all the models of Kia if they can actually show them to Ms. Pilapil so that she can describe…so that we have a particular knowledge of what particular car this is.”

However, Pagdilao and Coronel said they have already established that the car is owned by Unilever Philippines, based on the information provided by Pilapil.

Penas, investigators said, worked with Unilever before she left for Australia.

“Penas…was revealed to us by Ms. Pilar Pilapil is a former employee of the Unilever Philippines. We are checking on her employment records in that company right now,” Coronel said.

He said Penas arrived in the country on April 13 and is supposed to stay here for just a short period.

“On that fateful day, Ms. Penas was supposed to bring Ms. Pilapil to the River Bend area in Marikina to meet with some of her bosses…executives of some company, to discuss certain matters. Unfortunately, that did not take place because of that incident wherein they were held up by two men and their vehicle was taken away from them,” Coronel said.

Coronel added that they have also taken valuable information from some people who may have witnessed the crime, and even in Antipolo City where the badly wounded Pilapil was dumped.