GenSan traders freed after ransom paid

COTABATO CITY—Ransom has been paid for the release of four General Santos City residents kidnapped by gunmen in Maguindanao province on March 29, according to the father of one of the victims.

The families of the victims kept the release secret until Wednesday.

Chief Insp. Aldrin Martin Gonzales, spokesperson for the Central Mindanao police, on Wednesday confirmed the release of Francis Wong, his friends Jason Cababayao, whose family owns J-Trade Concrete Products and Construction Supply in General Santos City; architect Raulito Suyom Jr., and Rho Steven Bochurno on April 28.

The four men, who were partners in a construction business, were on their way to this city to meet a client when they were abducted in Datu Odin Sinsuat town in Maguindanao.

Suyom Jr.’s father, Raulito Suyom Sr., told a local radio station also on Wednesday that his son and his companions were abandoned by their captors along the Cotabato-Isulan national highway after they paid ransom on April 28.

Suyom Sr. did not say how much was paid.

“We paid the kidnappers a minimal amount of ransom. We kept the release under wraps due to security reasons,” he said.

He said that from their hideout in Maguindanao, the kidnappers took his son and the three other victims to Barangay (village) Dalican in Datu Odin Sinsuat where they were released.

The kidnappers gave the victims more than P1,000 for fare, he said.

“They were in great shape when we were reunited,” he said.

Cababayao, in the same interview, said they had no idea who kidnapped them.

He said that on March 29, Suyom Jr. invited them to meet a client for a beach resort project here.

They hired a female guide from Barangay Apopong in General Santos City before hitting the road, he said.

Cababayao said that when they reached Datu Odin Sinsuat, their client phoned and informed them that a motorcycle-riding man was waiting for them. The man was supposed to be another guide.

He said they followed the guide, traveled on a bumpy road before their vehicle was stopped by 10 armed men, who initially declared a holdup.

Cababayao said the armed men took their cell phones, their white Mitsubishi Strada pickup truck and other belongings.

Gonzales said police were trying to identify the group behind the kidnapping.

Previous kidnappings in Central Mindanao have been blamed on the Pentagon Gang, which has links with the Abu Sayyaf.

The Pentagon Gang was founded in the 1980s by former Moro National Liberation Front commander Faisal Marohombsar, who was slain in a clash with government troops. Jeoffrey Maitem, Inquirer Mindanao