Pentagon Gang strikes again, takes 4 captives

COTABATO CITY—A group of gunmen, believed to be members of the Pentagon Gang and based in Maguindanao, is holding at least four persons captive, including an architect, after snatching them in the town of Shariff Aguak in Maguindanao province on March 29.

Authorities confirmed the kidnapping only on Saturday.

Senior Supt. Rolen Balguin, city police director, identified the captives as Jason Cababayao, whose family owns J Trade Concrete Products and Construction Supply in General Santos City; architect Raulito Suyom Jr.; Francis Wong and Rho Steven.

Balquin said based on the initial details of the case, the victims were heading to this city in a white Mitsubishi Strada pickup on March 29, when they were stopped by armed men along the national highway in Shariff Aguak.

He said the victims were to meet a client here.

Facebook post

Wong, on his Facebook page, wrote (unedited) at 6:56 a.m. on March 29 that he was “Off to Cotabato City with my partners project meeting with Raulito Suy-Suy Suyom Jr. Jason Cababayao Rho Steven—feeling blessed.”

It was the last post he made in his Facebook account before the kidnapping.

Balquin said there had been reports the suspects had already made contact with the captives’ families and are demanding a P10-million ransom. He said, however, that the reports are still being double-checked.

He said the police’s antikidnapping group had taken the lead in the investigation and is determining the identities of the suspects.

But past cases of kidnappings here had been pinned on the so-called Pentagon Gang, which has links with the Abu Sayyaf.

The Pentagon Gang had been founded in the 1980s by former Moro National Liberation Front commander Faisal Marohombsar, who was later slain in a clash with government troops. It operates through smaller cells that are spread throughout Mindanao.

In Central Mindanao, the gang is headed by Alonto Tahir, a diabetic former Moro rebel leader.

Past victims

Among the gang’s previous victims include Italian priest Fr. Giuseppe Piarantoni, who was snatched on Oct. 17, 200, while celebrating Mass in Dimataling, Zamboanga del Sur.

The group was also blamed for the 2001 kidnapping of five Chinese engineers working on a government irrigation project in North Cotabato.

Although the gang appeared to have lain low, it continues to be a threat and is behind a string of kidnappings in Mindanao.

In 2007, the gang snatched five engineers working for the Philippine National Oil Company in North Cotabato.

In October 2013, it struck again in this city and seized an Indian national who operates a mall in Central Mindanao areas.

Mike Khemani, of the Sugni chain of stores, escaped from captivity about two months later. Jeoffrey Maitem, Inquirer Mindanao