MANILA, Philippines ? There were 25 kidnap incidents on the first half of the year, and Indian nationals have been the ?usual? victims, anti-kidnapping operatives of the Philippine National Police said Monday.

In an interview with INQUIRER.net on Monday, Police Anti-Crime and Emergency Response chief Senior Superintendent Isagani Nerez said the number was ?significantly lower? than that of last year.

On Indian nationals being among the usual victims, he said kidnappers have been Indian compatriots.

?There is disunity within the Indian community kaya ang hirap namin i-solve yung mga kaso (that?s why we?ve been finding it hard to solve the cases). And sometimes, nasolve na namin yung kaso, hindi um-a-attend yung biktima sa hearing dahil hindi nya na-f-feel yung support ng Indian community (when we solve the case, the victims don?t attend the hearings because they don?t feel the support of the Indian community),? Nerez added.

Because of this, he appealed to the Indian community, particularly to the Indian embassy, to set up a support group for Indian nationals here.

Of the 25 kidnap incidents from January to June this year, 10 were committed by terror groups such as the Abu Sayyaf group, and around 60 to 70 percent occurred in Mindanao, Nerez said.

The latest kidnapping incident in Cavite was perpetrated by what Nerez said was an ?express kidnap-for-ransom-group,? where the suspects took their hostages and demanded money right then and there.

He said the victims were not taken to any safe house; they were just kept in the vehicle. And whatever money was available from the victim?s family, they took.

?And then they will go again and try another kidnapping,? Nerez said, citing the almost 12-hour police chase from Cavite to Bulacan and back last Thursday when the armed suspects took hostage a child and several others while running away from police.

The members of the same group also took hostage tenants of an apartment in Imus, Cavite on Saturday. Police were able to arrest two.

?Yung incident last week, makikita mo na yun lang grupo na ito ang naging active pero neutralized naman kaagad. Ito nagdulot ng three cases na na-solve namin with their arrest (You can see from that incident last week that the group was neutralized right away. The arrest of the suspects resulted in the resolution of three other cases),? Nerez said.

Meanwhile, Nerez attributed the lower kidnap rate to intensified police operations and community cooperation by Pacer.

Nerez said Pacer operatives have launched massive operations against organized crime groups even before a ransom demand has been made.

?We are doing our very best, we are really striving so hard to?become more proactive. Negotiation is an exemption to the rule. Ang rule ngayon is nagpaplan pa lang yung mga kidnappers, ma-neutralize na natin sila. Tapos yung manhunt natin is 200 percent yung aggressiveness (The rule is to neutralize them at the planning stage. Our manhunt entails 200 percent aggressiveness),? he added.

From January to August 24, Pacer has arrested some 54 suspects and killed 22 others in police operations.

Nerez said that Pacer currently has a crime solution efficiency rate of 85 percent, higher than last year?s 75 percent.