CIDG chief summons personnel in Bulacan after alleged kidnapping

Criminal Investigation and Detection Group head Chief Supt. Roel Obusan in a press conference at Camp Crame. JULLIANE LOVE DE JESUS/INQUIRER.net

The Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) has summoned all its personnel in Bulacan after four of its members allegedly kidnapped last Monday night a Filipino-Chinese businessman who paid them a P1.6-million ransom to be released.

CIDG director Chief Supt. Roel Obusan said the entire team of CIDG in Bulacan, including non-uniformed personnel, will be subjected to administrative investigation after learning about the kidnapping incident as written by Inquirer columnist Ramon Tulfo.

READ: A kidnapping story

“They have to come here from the highest to the lowest officer. If need be na kailangang isarado Bulacan CIDG (that Bulacan CIDG should be closed), I will do it,” Obusan said in a media briefing at Camp Crame on Thursday.

“I’m not denying nor affirming but I’m saying CIDG was being maligned that we are at fault so it’s my beholden duty na alamin ito at kailangan malinis ko ang ranks ko if CIDG ang gumawa niyan (to look into it and I have to cleanse my ranks if CIDG indeed committed it) and let justice be given sa mga biktima (to the vicitms),” he said.

The victim, a trader, was taken by four armed men with M-16 rifles and a .45-caliber pistol at his warehouse. The suspects were reportedly boarding a white Delica van which only had one license plate, in the front, which read “CIDG.”

Dissolved unit 

The men said they were from the special business concerns unit of the CIDG and had an arrest warrant for the trader.

But upon learning about the incident early Monday, Obusan said he knew it was a suspicious operation when he found out that the team from Bulacan had no official report to the CIDG headquarters regarding the operation.

Obusan added that the special business concerns unit of the CIDG has long been dissolved.

Tulfo also wrote that when the businessman asked the officers to show him the warrant, the armed hoods manhandled him; one even fired his pistol into the air.

No CIDG visit 

Last Tuesday morning, the kidnappers called the businessman’s family demanding P1 million but the family asked to pay P700,000 instead.

However, the kidnappers asked for another P1.3 million but the family haggled and the amount went down to P900,000.

On Wednesday, Tulfo said Senator Panfilo Lacson, a friend of the trader, went to Camp Crame and sought the help of the CIDG and the Anti-Kidnapping Group.

Tulfo added that a congressman, also the victim’s friend, sought help of the CIDG but he was ignored.

Obusan clarified Tulfo’s account, stressing Lacson never came to the CIDG office at Camp Crame to discuss the kidnapping incident.

The CIDG chief added that he designated an officer, a senior superintendent, to entertain the congressman, Kabayan Partylist Rep. Harry Roque, as he was receiving an award for CIDG at the Multipurpose Center where President Rodrigo Duterte was a guest.

Asked if this would affect the image of the CIDG, Obusan said: “Hindi nakakalungkot to. Maganda nga kasi kung talagang sila, matatanggal bad eggs namin. It’s better na ma-wallop yan ASAP so that we can go on with the task at hand na malinis ang kapulisan. We welcome this development kasi malilinis namin ranks namin. Hindi kami manghihinayang sa mga bad eggs sa amin

(This is not saddening. It would actually have a good effect because if they indeed committed the crime, the bad eggs would be removed. It’s better that they would be walloped ASAP so that we can go on with the task at hand to cleanse the police ranks. We welcome this development because we would be able to cleanse our ranks. We won’t regret letting go of our bad eggs.)/rga