2 of 6 suspects in abduction of Mandaluyong trader in Maguindanao arrested

MANILA, Philippines—Two alleged suspects in the kidnapping of a gold appraiser in a resort in Maguindanao Thursday were arrested, while four other suspects managed to get away with the victim, Maguindanao provincial police director Senior Superintendent Marcelo Pintac said Friday.

The victim, identified as Dominador Mendoza Berdin, a resident of Mandaluyong City in Metro Manila, was staying at the Hillside Resort in Awang, Datu Odin Sinsuat, in Maguindanao for a gold transaction when he was forcibly taken by six armed men who apparently also rented a room in the resort around 3 p.m. Thursday, Pintac said.

Four suspects dragged Berdin in an elf truck bearing license plate USL 905 and drove toward Capiton DOS to transfer him to a motorized banca, but the two other suspects, identified as Nording Andil and Ryan Usman, were left in the area for some reason, Pintac said.

In a text message to reporters, Chief Superintendent Bienvenido Latag, regional police director in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, said that a .45-cal. pistol with defaced serial number was recovered from Usman.—Jamie Marie Elona