Rolito Go kidnapped by amateurs, say police

VIP PRISONER Rolito Go comes and goes at the New Bilibid Prison. RAFFY LERMA

MANILA, Philippines—The group that kidnapped Rolito Go is not an organized crime group, a police spokesman said Friday.

Police Chief Superintendent Generoso Cerbo said that the kidnappers had initially asked for P50 million in ransom after they took him from the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) Tuesday evening, but later reduced it to P1 million, radio reports said.

When no ransom was paid, the kidnappers ended up releasing Go and his nephew and giving them bus fares to return from Sto. Tomas, Batangas Wednesday night.

Go recounted that he then contacted relatives and police to meet them at a bus stop in Alabang, where they were eventually met by authorities.

Cerbo said that the method of the kidnappers showed they were not professional kidnappers. This was the result of the investigation conducted by police after Go recounted how they were forcibly taken by four men pretending to be agents of the National Bureau of Investigation.

Director General Nicanor Bartolome, Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief, previously stated that, based on the evidence they have gathered so far, Go was kidnapped by a group of armed men.

Go was imprisoned for murder after a road rage incident in 1991 where he shot and killed another driver.

He is set to be released in June 2013.