CEBU, Philippines - Call it a case of mistaken identity.
A former member of the Alpha Kappa Rho fraternity was found abandoned hogtied in a forested area in Barangay Catmon Daan, Catmon town, last Saturday morning, after five people who earlier abducted realized they grabbed the wrong man.
Roger Beltran, 25, a native of Sogod town, said that he was riding a bicycle along N. Bacalso Ave. in Barangay Pardo, Cebu City, on his way home in the same barangay around 7 p.m. last Friday when a white multicab blocked his way.
A man got off the multicab, approached him and pointed a gun at his head. The man then brought him on the multicab where a woman tied his hands and feet before finally gagging his mouth with packaging tape. His abductors also took turns kicking him in the face and in different parts of the body.
PO3 Ulysses Bermoy of Catmon Police Station said the victim recalled there were around five people, including the woman, inside the multicab.
Shortly after the kicking, the victim allegedly heard one of the men saying “Uy, dili man ni mao.”
He was then spared from further attacks and was later unloaded in a forested area in Sitio Bakhaw, Barangay Catmon Daan.
Bermoy said the place is near the seashore and visible from the highway.
The following morning around 7 a.m. the victim, still hog-tied and gagged, was found by Floriano Juban who passed the area to gather coconut wine.
Juban then called for police assistance. At the police station, the victim, still terrified, narrated the incident to the police, Bermoy said.
Bermoy said they will investigate the victim’s allegations, including his claim that the kidnapping took place along N. Bacalso Ave., a busy street in Cebu City.
“Mao ma’y iyang i-ngon na mingaw kuno ang maong dapit pagkakidnap sa iyaha, pero siguro tu-ngod na sad sa kahadlok maong nasulti ‘to niya,” Bermoy said.
Police said a gang or fraternity may be behind the incident, considering that the victim is an Akrho member and Akrho has rivalries with other fraternities and gangs. But Beltran claimed that he is no longer active in the said fraternity.
The victim said he works in Pardo but did not mention what his job was. His relatives fetched him from the police station last Saturday and took him home to Sogod that same day. — /BRP (FREEMAN)