Missing ABS-CBN woman found, filthy and in shock

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines—Bearing marks of a horrendous ordeal, a missing employee of ABS-CBN network was found in Baguio City Friday night, four days after she disappeared in Quezon City.

Obdulia Ambion-Cruz, 52, “was seen wandering [about]. She couldn’t talk straight and seemed to be in a state of shock,” said Quezon City Police District director Chief Superintendent Richard Albano.

A report from the Cordillera police on Saturday quoted her as saying that she was abducted by “Ilocano-speaking” men on March 18 and was kept blindfolded and taken to a house in Baguio after a long drive.

“When interviewed by [a police officer], Cruz alleged that around 9:30 a.m. … while waiting for a taxi after she paid her bills at the [Bureau of Internal Revenue] office in Quezon City, an unidentified male shoved her into a van,” it added.

Her captors spoke Ilocano in her presence during the ride after she was tied with wire and blindfolded. “They traveled for hours until they reached a house where she was kept in a room,” the report said.

Cruz, however, gave no further details about her ordeal.

Vendors brought “a rain-soaked, untidy and crying woman” to the Baguio police at 6 p.m. Friday, and the woman later identified herself as Cruz, an ABS-CBN network administrative officer.

The woman was wearing a pair of wet jeans, a blouse and jacket, and was taken to a police station where policemen gave her a fresh change of clothes.

Records showed that around 1 a.m. Tuesday, Cruz’s younger sister, ABS-CBN finance officer Angelita Ambion-Lara, went to the QCPD to report that her sister had been missing since 10 a.m. Monday.

Lara said the victim left her office at 9 a.m. Monday to go to the BIR office on Quezon Avenue. A closed-circuit television camera footage at the BIR compound showed that Cruz left at 9:40 a.m.

Police said doctors who examined Cruz indicated she had scratches on her wrists and knees and had to be sedated while doctors monitored her condition at Notre Dame de Chartres Hospital in Baguio.

Reports reaching Albano said that Cruz was found filthy and walking about near The Mansion, one of the most popular tourist spots in the summer capital.

Albano said Cruz’s family went to Baguio as soon as they were informed that she had been found.