7 men get life sentences for kidnapping woman

A judge on Monday sentenced to life imprisonment seven men who were found guilty of abducting a woman and demanding more than P200,000 in ransom from her family in 2003.

Convicted for the kidnapping of Venilda Ho were John Galicia, Roger Demetilla, Leopoldo Sariego, Carlito Ugat Jr., Eliseo Villarino, Napoleon Portugal and Roger Chiva.

Sariego was a former soldier while Ugat used to be in the police service.

The victim’s driver, Amelito Billones, was sentenced to serve up to 17 years in jail for being an accomplice.

In a 44-page ruling handed down Monday, Judge Edgar Dalmacio Santos of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 222 also ordered the principal accused to pay the victim P175,000 in moral damages.

Billones, on the other hand, was directed to pay P25,000.

Court records showed that Ho was able to positively identify the accused as her kidnappers while her husband, William, pointed to them as the ones who received the ransom.

Ho was abducted on May 8, 2003, on Araneta Avenue in Quezon City. She was in a Mitsubishi L-300 van being driven by Billones when the accused, who were in a red Kia sedan, blocked the vehicle’s path.

Four men, including Chiva and Galicia, alighted from the car, dragged the victim into their vehicle and drove to a house in Las Piñas.

Her captors then contacted her husband and demanded P50 million for her release.

After negotiations, the amount was reduced to P500,000 with the first installment of P224,500 paid several days later.

But instead of being released, Ho was transferred to another house in the East Kamias area in Quezon City.

At this point, her kidnappers demanded an additional P5 million from her family but this amount was whittled down to P255,000.

The second payoff, however, did not push through after operatives of the Police Anti-Crime and Emergency Response (Pacer) were approached by Ho’s husband.

On May 22, 2003, Billones, Demetilla and Sariego were arrested by Pacer agents who also rescued the victim.

Follow-up operations led to the apprehension of Villarino and Chiva in Parañaque City and later on, Galicia and Portugal.

In their defense, the accused denied the charges against them, claiming they were tortured into admitting their involvement in the crime.—With Daphne Magturo, trainee