By Christopher Lloyd Caliwan
MANILA – Personnel of the Philippine National Police’s Anti-Kidnapping Group (PNP-AKG) have arrested 11 kidnapping suspects and rescued a 78-year-old Filipino-Chinese victim in an operation in Quezon City, Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla said Friday.
At a press briefing in Camp Crame, Remula said the victim, a businesswoman, was rescued while withdrawing a supposed ransom of PHP150 million demanded by her abductors, on Sept. 11, after more than a week in captivity.
She was abducted on her way to work along C3 Road in Quezon City on Sept. 2, and detained at a “safehouse” in Laurel, Batangas. After agreeing with the ransom demand, the family – without the suspects’ knowledge – informed the police about it, prompting the latter to plan a rescue operation.
On the day the victim was withdrawing the money, the bank operators, who already knew of the situation, contacted the police through a 911 call. After 2 minutes, police swooped in and arrested three suspects who accompanied the victim – two former Marines and a former Army personnel.
During a follow-up operation on the same day, eight more suspects were arrested, including three women.
“Nainip na yata ‘yung mga kidnappers at pumunta diretso sa bangko. Puwede nga gumawa ng sine tungkol dito eh – comedy of errors. Pero safe to say, ‘yung mga response ng PNP natin in less than 2 minutes of the call nung branch manager, dumating agad… at nahuli kaagad ‘yung mga kidnappers. And within one day, nahuli lahat ng kanilang mga conspirators (The kidnappers must have gotten impatient and decided to go straight to the bank. You could make a movie out of this – a comedy of errors. But safe to say, our PNP responded in less than 2 minutes after the bank manager called. The kidnappers were immediately caught and within the day, all their conspirators were caught),” said Remulla.
The victim, he said, has undergone debriefing.
“Wala naman injuries sa katawan (No body injuries). But she should have psychological counseling. Insofar as her health, she seems to be in good health,” he added.
He said the suspects would face charges for kidnapping-for-ransom. The masterminds of the crime have yet to be determined.
“With a total of 11 suspects arrested, as of this briefing. We believe there are other conspirators in this case. There is still a hot pursuit going on. We cannot divulge the identity of the victim. We do have her information on the suspects… Two of the suspects were honorably discharged, and one was dishonorably discharged,” Remulla said. (PNA)
