7 men in Rolito Go abduction face raps

By: Jerome Aning - 11 years ago

Department of Justice prosecutors Friday recommended the filing of charges against seven men who allegedly abducted convicted road rage killer Rolito Go and his nephew, Klemens Yu, from the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) compound in Muntinlupa City last year.

According to Assistant State Prosecutors Susan Azarcon and Christine Perolina, they found probable cause to indict respondents Emilio Ortiz, Lawrence Yurong, Emerson Guazon, Fernando Francisco, Armando Pondero, Jerry Duenas and Reynaldo Tatad for kidnapping under Article 267 of the Revised Penal Code.

“The circumstances surrounding the kidnapping of [Go and Yu], as well as to how the same was committed, would show that respondents acted in conspiracy with each other. It is evident that respondents acted pursuant to a common purpose and design which is to obtain ransom money in exchange for [Go and Yu’s] liberty,” the prosecutors said in their resolution.

The filing of charges against the seven men was approved by Prosecutor-General Claro Arellano but the cases against a certain Kumander Rico and several John Does were dropped as there was not enough evidence linking them to the crime.

Court records showed that on Aug. 14, 2012, Go—who was found guilty of shooting and killing Eldon Maguan during a traffic altercation in 1991—and Yu were forcibly taken by the respondents from a hut near the Ina ng Awa Church inside the NBP compound.

Both were taken to a safehouse in Sto. Tomas, Batangas, where, according to Go, they were told by Kumander Rico that their families would have to pay P200 million for their freedom. Go said that he bargained with their captors to lower the amount to P50 million.

For some unexplained reason, Go and his nephew were set free by the suspects the following day although they were instructed not to report the incident to the police since no ransom was paid for their release.

The pair made their way back to the NBP where security had been tightened by authorities who believed that Go had escaped.

Yu, meanwhile, corroborated Go’s allegations. Yu said the respondents took his ATM card and asked for his personal identification number. He said he later discovered that the suspects withdrew P60,000 from his bank account.

Duenas, Mondero and Yurong were positively identified by the complainants as among the four persons who abducted them from the NBP and forced them into a car which took them to the safe house.

Guazon, on the other hand, was the one who took Yu’s ATM card and based on the footage taken by a closed circuit television camera obtained by authorities, withdrew money from his account at a bank in Pasig City.

In the case of Ortiz and Tadtad, the prosecutors said their claims that they were merely forced to participate in the abduction would be “best ventilated in court.”