It was a case of ‘kidnap me,’ anchor admits

LUCENA CITY—What was initially reported as a kidnapping of a female broadcaster in Candelaria, Quezon, early Sunday morning turned out to be a hoax cooked up by the supposed victim herself.

After Quezon police arrested whom they believed to be one of the suspects after a brief chase in the Candelaria town proper shortly before 5 p.m. Sunday, the supposed kidnap victim, Melinda Jennifer Glefonea, reporter-anchor of Edge Radio (103.1-FM) based in Candelaria, phoned town police chief Supt. Francisco Obreo and confessed that the whole incident had been scripted, or was a “kidnap-me case.”

“She (Glefonea) called the chief of police and admitted that the kidnapping was scripted, that she herself planned it,” Chief Insp. Edcille Canals, Quezon police media relations officer, told the Inquirer by phone.

Mitch Regondola, coanchor of Glefonea, said Glefonea also called her up and admitted the kidnapping was fake.

“She said she planned it to preempt the persons who wanted to do her harm,” Regondola said.

She said she was not aware of the plan.

According to Regondola, Glefonea told her that she would only surface if the authorities promised to protect her from her enemies.

Canals identified the arrested suspect, the driver of the vehicle used in the incident, as Niño Basilan from nearby San Juan, Batangas. Basilan yielded a loaded .45-cal. pistol.

According to the police report, Glefonea, a resident of Lucena City, was seized at gunpoint by two armed men whose faces were covered with handkerchiefs while she was eating at a restaurant in Candelaria at around 4 a.m. on Sunday.

The suspects entered the restaurant and declared a holdup before they forcibly took Glefonea and dragged her into a waiting silver Innova driven by Basilan.

The incident was captured by the restaurant’s closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras, said Canals.—Delfin T. Mallari Jr., Inquirer Southern Luzon