‘Abducted’ man in Laguna is ex-cop linked to 2018 kidnapping

SAN PEDRO CITY –– The man abducted in full public view in Los Baños, Laguna is a former police officer linked to the kidnapping of a businesswoman in Laguna two years ago.

The Los Baños police identified him as Patrolman Michael Siervo, 34, according to Siervo’s brother, who reported the former policeman missing.

Siervo, who had since been on absence without leave from the police force, was wanted by the authorities, specifically by the Philippine National Police (PNP) Anti-Kidnapping Group.

In 2018, the PNP named Siervo leader of a group of rogue policemen in Laguna, who kidnapped and demanded ransom from a woman that they previously arrested for illegal drugs.

The woman was later released after the family paid a portion of the ransom. She then told investigators where she was held captive and the group’s safe house in Barangay Tranca, Bay, Laguna, turned out was Siervo’s.

But in a phone interview Friday, Los Baños police chief Lieutenant Colonel Pastor Castillo said follow-up investigation was still ongoing to locate Siervo and identify his abductors.

Castillo also said the abductors used fake license plates (AQA-5089 and MO6984) on the two vans used when they took Siervo off the street on the boundary of Los Baños and Bay.

The abduction, which happened on Nov. 11, was recorded in a cellphone camera by a motorist, who stopped in the middle of the national highway.

The video, later shared with the Inquirer, showed at least five armed men, dragging a man and forcing him into one of the vehicles. The Los Baños police report said there were at least eight suspects, who drove towards Sta. Cruz, Laguna.

Edited by LZB