Cops dig deep in child-snatching incident in Pasig

Police are now tracking down a green van with plate number XMM 507 reportedly behind the failed attempt to snatch a five-year-old girl in Pasig City.

This development came after police said one of the van’s passengers was arrested in the act of dragging a girl into the vehicle but was foiled by concerned witnesses.

Suspect Romualdo Abalajon Jr. at the police headquarters. Photo courtesy of Easter Police District

Romualdo Abalajon Jr., the 49-year-old male suspect, was arrested by Pasig City Police after he was caught dragging the girl at Villa Tupaz, Barangay San Joaquin on Thursday morning.

In a police report, witness Rose Marie Vecino, 29, said that she saw Abalajon holding the girl by her arm and dragging her out of the street.

“At that instance, witness hurriedly went to the victim and took the child free from the suspect. Immediately, she called for police assistance at Barangay San Joaquin,” the report disclosed.

Personnel from the Pasig Police Community Precinct 2 as well as members of the Barangay San Joaquin Security Force responded to the area and immediately apprehended Abalajon.

A transparent plastic sachet containing suspected shabu was confiscated from the suspect’s possession, the report said.

Prior to the incident, Abalajon was seen as a passenger of the green van suspected to be used for abducting minors, according to the report.

“But when the responding officers arrived, said vehicle was nowhere to be found,” the report said.

“Flash alarm [had been issued] to other police district for the possible arrest of driver or occupants of the said vehicle,” it added.

According to the report, charges for violation of RA 7610 or the Anti-Child Abuse Law as well as Section 11 of RA 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 were being readied against Abalajon before the Pasig City Prosecutors Office. /jpv