Alabang kidnap-slays puzzle police probers

AKG director Brig. Gen. Cosme Abrenica —VIDEOGRAB FROM PNP FACEBOOK

Four of the six Chinese nationals who were abducted from their house in Ayala Alabang Village in Muntinlupa City in October are already dead, the Philippine National Police Anti-Kidnapping Group (AKG) confirmed on Wednesday.

AKG director Brig. Gen. Cosme Abrenica said the case was challenging because the suspected kidnappers did not even communicate with the victims’ families to make any demands since the abduction took place on Oct. 30, or almost a month ago.

Abrenica, however, said two other Chinese nationals, an 11-year-old boy and his mother, remained missing.

The kidnapping occurred around 4 a.m. on Oct. 30, when at least six armed men barged inside the house rented by the victims on Champaca Street in the swanky subdivision. The nine occupants of the house—six Chinese and three Filipinos—were blindfolded and loaded into a van.

READ: 30-yr-old Malaysian arrested for alleged abduction of Chinese tourist

READ: Chinese worker slain, another survives abduction in Pampanga

The three Filipinos—a couple who served as a stay-in house helper and driver and their son—were freed in Calauan, Laguna, on the afternoon of the same day. The kidnappers instructed them not to report to the authorities.

Two days later, on Nov. 1, two bloated bodies of Chinese women were found along Marilaque Highway in Rizal province.

“The victims were immediately killed because the human body does not bloat within a day after death,” Abrenica said at a press briefing in Camp Crame. On Nov. 6, the [remains] of two Chinese men, who turned out to be siblings, were found in Infanta, Quezon province.

One of the witnesses identified them as among the six kidnapping victims, and the police asked the parents of the victims to come to the Philippines from China to provide DNA samples that were eventually found to match the DNA taken from the bodies of the two Chinese men.

All four Chinese nationals died of suffocation, according to Abrenica. “We did not find any wounds, either from gunshot or stabbing from the victims. From our investigation, they were likely killed by covering their faces or they were choked.”2 not yet found.

Of the six abducted Chinese, police were still looking for two—an 11-year-old boy and his mother.

“Of course, we could not dictate anything to the abductors, but I am appealing to them: do not harm the remaining victims, especially the innocent child,” Abrenica said. “We are hoping that we will be able to recover the mother and son alive.”

The AKG was having difficulty in resolving the case, with Abrenica admitting it was “unusual” compared with previous kidnapping incidents involving Chinese nationals in which the abductors were demanding ransom for their captives’ release.

“This is a puzzle for us on what the kidnappers really want. They have not called the family. There was no demand for ransom,” he said.

Investigators, however, were focusing on the “many businesses” of one of the killed victims, the one who rented the house and tagged as the “primary” target.

Asked if the target was involved in the gambling business, Abrenica said no, “but we are still investigating that angle.”

Last week, Abrenica said, police conducted an inventory of the items in the house of the victims in the presence of the family of the abducted Chinese nationals, representatives from the Chinese embassy, Ayala Alabang Village homeowners’ association officials and its security personnel.

“The six safes were empty. There’s nothing inside them,” he said, noting there were “missing valuable items.”

20 cases

During an Oct. 27 press briefing, just days before the abduction of the six Chinese nationals, the AKG reported 20 kidnappings since the start of the year, the “majority” of which had Chinese nationals as victims. The figure was lower compared with 38 in 2021 and 41 in 2022.

Most of the kidnappings of Chinese nationals in the previous years were tagged to be related to casino or Philippine offshore gaming operators, where they were usually employed.

Of these 20 abductions this year, 15 were resolved, while five remained under investigation.

The press briefing was called in response to criticisms that kidnapping cases were underreported amid reports of abductions of Chinese nationals in Metro Manila.

“We are paying close attention to these cases and we are ensuring a smooth flow of investigation. It could be that there are some cases that are really not reported to us, so we are not able to address [them]. This is why we encourage those who have information to coordinate with us,” Abrenica said.