Kidnap group with Army members falls into NBI trap

Seven members of a kidnap-for-ransom group allegedly headed by a military officer were arrested Tuesday, the latter accosted at the Philippine Army headquarters in Fort Bonifacio, according to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

Rommel Vallejo, chief of the NBI’s anti-organized crime division, said agents came for Army Lt. Noel Alipio after he was tagged by the other suspects as their leader. The KFR group also allegedly included a Scout Ranger and an Army corporal.

Vallejo identified the other suspects as Joseph Entredicho, Grexon Behare, Rafael Camasis, Jaime Brendo, Scout Ranger Carlo Valentino, and Cpl. Edgar Alipio, Noel’s cousin.

According to the NBI official, the seven men were arrested in separate locations before they could victimize a Chinese businesswoman residing in Manila. The bureau earlier learned through intelligence sources that the group was planning to abduct the woman.

On the day of the supposed kidnapping, NBI agents foiled the plan by hiding themselves in the woman’s van as it left her residence. This was to fool the suspects into believing that the woman was in the vehicle.

Four of the suspects tried to block the van somewhere on Ortigas Avenue Extension, where they were arrested by the NBI team in the vehicle.

The Chinese woman appeared at the NBI-AOCD office on Tuesday and, in an Inquirer interview, thanked the government agents for “risking their lives to save me.”

Vallejo said the group was placed under surveillance for a month.

He said the two of the suspects—Valentino and Edgar Alipio—had been absent without leave (AWOL) from the military, while their civilian cohorts were also known to be engaged in robberies.

The officer on case, agent Jeff Paras, said Noel Alipio was also tagged as the group’s financier.

When arrested, Edgar Alipio first gave a false name—Ariel Imperio—but investigators managed to get his real identity through his serial number.

Paras said Alipio apparently used an alias to conceal his records as a suspect in the 2011 killing of Judge Nathaniel Patingalan in Quezon City.

Seized from the suspects were four handguns and two grenades. The NBI charged them with attempted kidnapping and illegal possession of firearms.

On Wednesday, Lt. Col. Rosalio Pompa, the commanding officer of the suspects from the military, went to the NBI headquarters to check on their condition.

“I am here because I am their commanding officer but  I will leave the investigation to the NBI,” Pompa said. “Any wrongdoing on the part of our men, if proven true, will not be condoned.”