2 Chinoy kidnap victims reunited with kin; 6 suspects arrested – PNP

MANILA, Philippines — Two Chinese-Filipino kidnap victims were reunited with their families in time for Christmas.

The Philippine National Police said they have so far arrested six suspects in the separate kidnappings of Giovanni Rosanno Tan and Michelle Ng.

Tan was rescued after 12 days in captivity after policemen managed to trace his whereabouts through surveillance cameras.  But Michelle Ng was released after her family paid ransom.

Senior Supt. Roberto Fajardo, the AKG head said both victims were Chinese-Filipino business people.  Chinese-Filipinos who usually have a string of businesses are the usual targets of kidnappers in the Philippines

“We were able to arrest the suspects thanks to the cooperation of the victims’ families,” said Fajardo in a press briefing on Thursday.

Fajardo said Tan was released without the family paying the P20-million ransom demand as a result of the successful rescue operations.

Tan, an owner of a piggery farm, was abducted last December 10 in Tarlac City during which a security guard was even killed in the attempt to snatch him.

From Tarlac City, he was brought to Agusan del Norte in Mindanao was kept there for a day while his captors gathered more firearms for their succeeding heists in Metro Manila.

His captors eventually brought him out of Mindanao and took a ship for Manila via Matnog in Sorsogon.

Fajardo said they tracked down the victim’s location using surveillance camera footage from the crime scene and the route that the suspects took.

Twelve days later, policemen managed to rescue him at the Matnog Ferry Terminal, Matnog in Sorsogon.

Also arrested were five suspects armed with high-powered firearms, who were aboard the Mitsubishi Adventure with license plate ABD-6572 used in the abduction.

The arrested suspects were: Marlon Altizo, Jemmel Cinco, Rolly Falcon, Drackilou Falcon and Abigail Lapinid.

Fajardo said Altizo and Drackilou Falcon were previously imprisoned but were released. One of the suspects used to be an employee of Tan.

Aside from the vehicle, recovered were: a baby Armalite rifle, an M16 rifle, a KG-9 machine pistol, a caliber .45 Kimber pistol, a caliber .45 STI Edge pistol, a 9 mm CZ 75 B pistol, several magazines with live ammunition, and nine cellphones.

Meanwhile, Ng was abducted last December 17 in Barangay Dona Imelda in Quezon City and was released in front of her house five days later after her family paid P150,000 to the kidnappers through Smart Padala.

However, the PNP managed to track down a suspect after getting the name and details of the recipient of the money transfer.

The suspect was identified as Maribel Bucala was arrested in follow-up operations.

Fajardo said the woman was part of the Bocala kidnapping group, whose members have been serving time at the New Bilibid Prison for past kidnappings.  SFM