Kin seek help after 5 men ‘abducted’ in Pampanga

MABALACAT CITY, Pampanga, Philippines — Five men were allegedly abducted in this city last month, prompting their relatives to seek the help of Mayor Crisostomo Garbo to locate them.

On Tuesday, the parents and siblings of the missing men met Garbo, who directed policemen to intensify their search “regardless of the reason behind their disappearance.”

Authorities identified those missing as Finest Nathaniel Mendoza, 37; Nomer Gonzales, 59; Jonjon Flores, 28; Alexander Euperio, 45; and another identified only as “Warlie.”

“Do not worry too much. The government of Mabalacat is behind you. We will not stop looking [for them],” Garbo told the relatives. “Justice must prevail and they must be found.”

In a memorandum on Aug. 29, Lt. Col. Protom Guevarra, former city police chief, said Fe Tulabut Mendoza, mother of Finest Nathaniel, went to the local police station to inquire if her son was arrested or in police custody.

“Verification was made to the custodial facility of this station and no Finest Nathaniel Mendoza was found,” Guevarra said, adding that all police stations in adjacent towns and cities similarly reported that no person with that name was placed in their respective custody.

Kidnapping rap

In a text message on Tuesday, Mendoza told the Inquirer that her son was renting a place at Pineda Compound in Dau village.

Mendoza said she filed a kidnapping via conspiracy complaint against one Marvin Tuazon on Sept. 2 at the Mabalacat City Prosecutor’s Office.

She said Tuazon approached her and offered to facilitate the “release” of her son, who was allegedly in the safe house of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA).

Mendoza claimed that Tuazon asked for money and told her that Finest Nathaniel would be released by Aug. 30 or Aug. 31.“I’ve waited for him (Tuazon) to call again until I could no longer contact him, so police assisted me in filing a complaint against him,” she said.

Glenn Guillermo, public information officer of PDEA in Central Luzon, said in a separate interview on Wednesday that the agency did not conduct any operation at Dau village here on Aug. 21 or Aug. 22, when the five men were allegedly forcibly taken by armed men.

He said a check with the PDEA jail facility in the region also showed that none of the missing men’s names appeared on the list of persons who are under the agency’s custody.

—JUN A. MALIG 

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