Police rescue 5-year-old boy kidnapped by family friend

MANILA, Philippines–A five-year-old boy allegedly kidnapped by a family friend in Bacolod City has been rescued by anti-kidnapping police in Cebu province.

According to a police report, Allan Quilbo, 58,asked permission from the boy’s parents, his fellow church servers, to take the boy out and buy him a coloring book on January 4.

However, Quilbo, a native of Gerona, Tarlac, did not return Jeptah, not his real name, to his family. Instead, he asked for a P16,000 ransom money in exchange for the release of the boy, Senior Superintendent Roberto Fajardo, Philippine National Police Anti-Kidnapping Group chief, said in the report.

After depositing the amount to the suspect’s bank account, the parents had not heard from Quilbo, Fajardo said.

This prompted them to seek the AKG’s help in launching a rescue operation for Jeptah.

On Tuesday night, AKG personnel and Cebu City police rescued the boy from Quilbo at the Montesclaros Pension House and Dormitory along Pelaez Extension.

The rescued victim was reunited with his parents after undergoing medical examination and stress debriefing.

Currently detained at the AKG Visayas office, a case of kidnapping for ransom is pending against Quilbo.

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