Hostage taker charged

A CRIMINAL charge was filed in court yesterday against the 25-year-old man who held hostage a 7-year-old girl in barangay Apas in Cebu City last Wednesday.

Paul Guigue is facing trial for serious illegal detention. No bail was recommended.

Police said Guigue suddenly grabbed the girl, who was a neighbor, and took her to his home about 9:30 a.m. last Wednesday.

He held people at bay, warning that if they would come near he would kill the child. All the while, he poked a pair of scissors and an improvised ice pick at her neck. Some neighbors offered him food and money, but he ignored them.

The Cebu City police chief, Supt. Melvin Ramon Buenafe, was able to negotiate with Guigue by assuring he would not be harmed.

At one point, Guigue demanded P500 for fare to go home to Panglao, Bohol province. When Guigue, who is unmarried and without a job, lowered the girl, he was immediately subdued and handcuffed.

The child’s father, a security guard at Country Mall, ran all the way home about a kilometer away upon hearing about the trouble and arrived in time to see Guigue being taken into custody.

His affidavit formed part of the supporting evidence. The girl’s mother was in Carbon market buying food for the family.

Another neighbor who witnessed the hostage taking outside his house also executed an affidavit. “I asked Paul what was his problem but he only answered that he was not joking, and poked a pair of scissors at the neck of the girl,” said Ronelo Lomo.

The girl was later given a stress debriefing by social workers. Guigue was subjected to a psychiatric evaluation but results were not yet released when the criminal charge was filed with the prosecutors office. /REPORTER ADOR VINCENT S. MAYOL