Police mount operations to rescue abducted jail warden of Compostela Valley

TAGUM CITY–Operations have continued to locate the chief of the Compostela Valley provincial jail who was abducted by unidentified armed men near his home in Panabo City, Davao del Norte, on Tuesday evening, authorities on Wednesday said.

Police have also been conducting an investigation as to the possible motive and suspects who took Jose Mervin Coquilla, Compostela Valley Governor Arturo Uy, said.

Coquilla, who heads the Compostela Valley Provincial Rehabilitation Center (CVPRC) located in Mankilam, Tagum City, Davao del Norte, was tending his car wash business next to his house in Sto. Niño village when four armed men forced him into a Nissan Navara pick-up truck with plate number KGK-131, around 8:10 p.m., before speeding off in an unknown direction, Superintendent Antonio Rivera, Southern Mindanao police spokesperson, said.

Alerted, a team from the Provincial Public Safety Company (PPSC) immediately conducted pursuit operations, but as of Wednesday morning, there was still no word about the location of the victim and his captors, Rivera told a Tagum radio station in a phone interview.

The victim’s family has not received any word about the warden’s location and condition, city Councilor Agripino Coquilla, the former’s brother, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

“In the spirit of Christmas, I’m appealing to the abductors to set free Warden Coquilla,” Governor Uy said by text message.

Senior Superintendent Samuel Gadingan, Davao del Norte police, has directed the Panabo City police to conduct a thorough investigation into the alleged abduction, Chief Inspector Levitico Estay, provincial police spokesperson, said.

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