Kidnap victim dares to fight back and wins

Although it has nearly been a decade since seven Chinese men took her and held her against her will, Jacky Rowena Tiu-Lomibao says she will never forget the faces of her kidnappers because they never bothered to blindfold her in her eight days of captivity.

“This led me to believe that they would surely kill me. And so I stormed the heavens with my prayers and [made] a promise to the Lord that if I make it [out of this] alive, I would do whatever I could to prevent this KFR (kidnap-for-ransom) group from victimizing others,” she tells the Inquirer in a recent interview.

Moment of truth

On June 16, Tiu-Lomibao’s efforts to make her captors pay for what they did to her finally paid off.

Shi Jian Hui (alias Jacky Sy King), Lim Jian Feng (alias Jason Lim), Xu You Kwang (alias Johnny Co), Wu Chang, Shi Chun Qi (alias Ocampo Jacky Sy) and Zhang Xi Wang (alias Michael Wang) were found guilty beyond reasonable doubt by Judge Antonio M. Rosales of the Manila City Regional Trial Court Branch 52 and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Another accused, Zhang Du, alias Wilson Chang, was convicted for being an accessory and was meted out a prison term ranging from six to eight years and one day.

Damages plus interest

The seven were also ordered to pay Lomibao exemplary damages of P100,000 with an interest dating back to the time she was kidnapped until the time the full amount is settled.

“After nine years, eight months and 20 days, the case against my kidnappers has finally come to an end. I thank God for giving me the strength to fight for the justice I rightfully deserve. I thank Judge Rosales for taking the side of the truth and remaining true to his sworn duty. And I thank those who joined me and my family in our quest for truth and justice,” Tiu-Lomibao told reporters after the verdict was read in court.

Tiu-Lomibao was just a few meters away from her house when armed men kidnapped her on Sept. 27, 2001, in La Union province. She was released only after her father paid a P10–million ransom.

Her ordeal lasted for just eight days but it was long enough to change her forever. From a normal life, she was suddenly thrust into an “abnormal” existence, one full of restrictions and paranoia.

“I lost my freedom, so to speak. I could not go anywhere without bodyguards even when I would buy very personal things in the mall like in the lingerie section,” she said.

Her family was also forced to take security precautions for their own safety. With bodyguards shadowing their every move, privacy became a casualty.

Hoping for normalcy

But with justice finally served, Tiu-Lomibao hopes to go back to living a normal life.

“To this day, I am not completely healed. I honestly do not know if I ever will [be]. [But] it doesn’t matter if it takes a long time,” she says as she adds that she believes she will eventually get there with the help of her husband, former Philippine National Police Chief Arturo C. Lomibao, family and friends.

After all, it was their unwavering love and support that she leaned on in her pursuit of justice—a quest that took almost 10 years after the case changed judges 10 times.

Tiu-Lomibao admits that there were times when she felt that justice was not on her side. “I felt victimized over and over,” she says.

At one time, the Chinese Embassy demanded the release of two of the accused, insisting both were innocent. Later on, the charge against one of the seven men was downgraded to being an accessory, allowing him to post bail.

Then there was also an instance in which one of the judges handling the case showed his bias for the defense.

“He was answering questions in behalf of the accused, coaching the defense counsel how to ask questions and telling them to object to questions raised by the prosecution,” Tiu-Lomibao recounts.

P10–million offer

Threats also poured in, some conveyed through text, in letters from strangers or messages relayed by other people. At one point, the accused sent emissaries who offered to settle the case for P10 million along with a warning that they would be better off if they were to accept the deal.

Out of fear and frustration, she could have just gone to another country to get away from it all. However, she chose to stay and keep fighting because she wanted to serve as an example for other victims of crimes.

“This is my country. No one is going to drive me away. No one has the right to barge into our lives, turn it upside down and make me leave my own [home], running scared while my kidnappers… prey on other victims. They [accused] told me during my captivity, ‘You are not our first victim, and you will not be the last,’” she states.

Brave, positive front

She adds, “But I chose to fight back. I refused to be scared. I wanted to put a face to the numerous KFR victims although I knew fully well that this would entail a lot of sacrifice not only for me but for my whole family.”

Aside from putting on a brave face throughout her search for justice, Tiu-Lomibao also focused on being positive.

“This is a matter of choice. I could sit in a corner, indulge in self-pity, be angry and scared, complain to high heavens, why me? But I chose to look at the glass [as] half-full. I always counted my blessings, prayed a lot and just tried to be as normal as possible.”

She also found the time to join the Movement for Restoration of Peace and Order, an organization composed of kidnap victims and their families. The group aims to help them go through the rigors of the investigation and trial process while monitoring their cases for any developments.

With the resolution of her case, Tiu-Lomibao says she intends to devote her time to her husband and their son, two-year-old Christian.

And when he is old enough to understand, she says she will tell him her story. “I want him to know what I went through, that I almost lost my life [so that he will] grow up giving more value to life.”

At the same time, she says she wants him to realize that he should not hurt people intentionally or consciously because the pain would linger. “And what goes around comes around,” she adds.

Lessons from experience

Although being kidnapped was a difficult experience, she acknowledges that it taught her several lessons.

“First and foremost, to trust the Lord because in His own precious time, He will give us our heart’s fervent desires. Second, that we all have to take a stand and when we fight, we must put up a good fight. Third, life is too short. We should value people in our lives and love them more passionately.”

She expressed her thanks to the people who helped her throughout her fight—Senior Deputy State Prosecutor Richard Anthony Fadullon and his team, Senior State Prosecutor Theodore Villanueva, Quezon City Assistant Prosecutor Perfecto Chua Cheng, Associate Prosecutor Amanda Felipe and lawyer Edmundo Rimando.

Outspoken supporter

She is especially grateful to outspoken anticrime crusader Teresita Ang See who, when the case was still being heard in La Union, always made it a point to attend the hearing even if it meant leaving Manila at 2 a.m. to make it on time for the 9 a.m. hearing. This she did, week after week, for over a year.

Most of all, Tiu-Lomibao is thankful to her parents, Rodolfo and Rebecca, whom she credits for turning her into what she is—a woman with the courage to fight back at her tormentors and win.

To the people on her gratitude list, she has this to say: “I shall be forever indebted to them for all the love they gave us and the sacrifices they made.”