One of the suspects in the abduction of high-profile inmate Rolito Go surfaced on Friday, saying he wanted to clear his name.
Reynaldo Tadtad, 33, maintained that he just provided the hut where Go and his nephew were brought by five men in August—and that he actually helped the two captives escape when he learned that they were about to be killed.
A resident of Barangay San Pedro, Sto. Tomas town in Batangas province, Tadtad appeared before National Capital Region Police Office director Chief Supt. Leonardo Espina two days after learning that he was implicated in Go’s kidnapping from the New Bilibid Prison.
On Aug. 14, road rage murder convict Go and his nephew Clemence Yu were reported missing from the NBP compound where Go enjoyed so-called “living-out” privileges. They resurfaced the following night in Alabang, Muntinlupa City, claiming they had been kidnapped for ransom, brought to a hut in Batangas, and then released.
The NBP initially considered the incident an escape attempt.
Tadtad, who was identified in reports by his nickname “Reggie,” said he only provided the hut in Barangay San Vicente where Go and Yu were brought by the kidnappers.
He said he had no idea that the two were captives when they arrived.
“I was just approached by the suspect named Jay-R who asked if I could let them spend the night in the hut. When I came out, there was a white car. The driver’s face was covered. There was an old man and a younger one. I didn’t ask questions because they were not talking,” Tadtad said in Filipino.
And contrary to reports that he helped the abductors, “I was actually the one who let (Go and Yu) escape and gave them money for transport. I heard that they were about to be killed, but I could not allow that because that’s not part of the agreement when I let them in.”
He said he pointed the two captives to the nearest road when he noticed that only two of the five kidnappers were around at one point. An emotional Yu even thanked him before fleeing with his uncle, he said.
On Tuesday, the National Bureau of Investigation filed charges against 10 suspects in the abduction, namely Emilio Ortiz, Lawrence Yurong, Fernando Francisco, Armando Mondero, Jerry Duenas, a certain Reggie, a Kumander Rico, an unidentified minimum security prison trustee at NBP, Go’s unidentified cook, and PO2 Emerson “Bong” Guanzon.
Only Duenas and Mondero are currently under government custody.
Senior Supt. Danilo Maligalig of the Eastern Police District, a distant relative of Tadtad who was contacted by the suspect prior to his appearance, said “his revelations jibe with the statements of Go and his nephew, who said that had it not been for the householder who let them escape and gave them money, they would not have made it out alive since there was a plan to kill them in Batangas.”
But Espina said an investigation by the Department of Justice will ultimately “be the best gauge for determining (Tadtad’s) participation” in the abduction.