5 face illegal detention raps over ‘abduction’ of Malaysian trader in Tarlac

INQUIRER.net

MABALACAT CITY, Pampanga — The abduction complaint filed by the police against the five men, who allegedly tried to snatch a Malaysian realty executive in Tarlac province this week, was downgraded to slight illegal detention by the provincial prosecutor’s office.

In a phone interview Friday, Staff Sergeant Onofre Culbengan, the case investigator, said Assistant Provincial Prosecutor Dick Mark Dinamling also recommended P120,000 bail for the temporary liberty of each of the suspects.

The suspects were arrested after they allegedly tried to abduct at past midnight on Wednesday the Malaysian executive officer of a real estate company in Bamban town.

Colonel Erwin Sanque, Tarlac police director, said the victim is a resident of Anupul village in Bamban.

Sanque identified one of the arrested suspects as Der Chiw Kiat, 33, also a Malaysian, who resides at the Fontana Leisure Park in Clark Freeport Zone.

The four other suspects were Carmelito Dela Cruz, 58, of Caloocan City; John Rey Valderama, 26, also of Caloocan; Alexander Sumagay, 40, of Quezon City; and Obet Tobias, 40, of Caloocan.

It was not immediately known why the prosecutor downgraded the complaint.

An investigation showed that around 12:30 a.m. on Thursday, the victim was exiting the establishment on board a Ford Explorer sports utility vehicle when a Toyota Rush SUV suddenly blocked his path.

The suspects then alighted from their vehicle, forcibly opened and entered the victim’s vehicle, and tried to abduct him. But the security guard who witnessed the incident immediately called the police.

Members of the Bamban police, who were on mobile patrol, got the distress call and proceeded to the area where they arrested the suspects.

Sanque said the Malaysian suspect is the nephew of the victim. The suspects remained detained at the Bamban Police Station on Friday. INQ

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