5 armed men abduct victim in full view of people in Los Banos

SAN PEDRO CITY—An abduction involving a group of armed men and its lone target came into play in full view of motorists and residents in the town of Los Banos, Laguna province on Wednesday (Nov. 11) with the crime recorded on video by a motorist.

The motorist, who took the video, stopped and recorded the abduction which he said took place around 2 p.m. along the national road at the village of San Antonio in Los Banos.

The motorist is not named in this report for security reasons.

But in a phone interview, the motorist said the scuffle caught his attention since the abductors were brandishing guns.

The motorists said he initially thought that the armed men were policemen in civilian clothes. He, however, said he did not see any Philippine National Police marking on their clothes or vehicles.

“They came from two vans, parked on opposite sides of the road. Then they dragged this man (from the roadside),” the motorist said.

In a separate phone interview, Los Baños police chief Lt. Col. Pastro Castillo said the crime was reported to them by the village captain and that “an investigation was underway.”

“But I couldn’t say yet if those men were or were not police,” he added.

The minute-long mobile phone video showed at least five men, some wearing face masks, dragging and carrying their victim into a van. The victim was seen resisting and, at one point, punched by one of the abductors.

No gunshots were fired during the crime, the motorist said.

TSB