Wife, two others charged for ‘abducting’ husband

CEBU, Philippines - The National Bureau of Investigation-7 has filed complaints for kidnapping and serious illegal detention against three persons including a woman over the alleged abduction of her husband at Holy Family Village, Banilad, Cebu City on Wednesday.

Charged were the man’s estranged wife, the wife’s alleged counsel Benjamin Negapatan, and Michael Plaza, nurse attendant of Metropsych facility in Subangdaku, Mandaue City, where the man was brought.

NBI-7 assistant director Augusto Isidoro said that last Wednesday, at around 2:30 p.m., they received a call for assistance on an alleged kidnapping case.

The FREEMAN is withholding the names of the estranged wife as well as the complainant.

Investigation showed that six men wearing T-shirts and shorts onboard a silver/gray van with plate no. YLA 129 arrived at the Holy Family Village Wednesday afternoon.

Village guard Renerio Pacifico alleged that he flagged down the van and asked those onboard where they were heading. The driver informed him that they were going to the Port One store owned by the complainant to buy shoes.

Minutes later, Pacifico said he saw the same men dragged the complainant to the van while the latter was “crying for help.”

He said he tried to help the complainant but Negapatan, a resident of the same village, told him not to interfere, saying he was the counsel of the man’s wife.

Pacifico’s testimonies were corroborated by the employees of Port One store who were on duty at that time.

The employees alleged that six men arrived at the store and handcuffed their employer before he was dragged outside.

Few minutes later, the employees said they saw their employer’s wife walked inside the store and asked for her husband’s passbook and bankbook.

She was allegedly not able to get them so she demanded for the store’s sales. She was able to get P3,000.

The employees said they took videos and pictures of the alleged abduction.

Franklin Tan, a customer, said he was talking to the complainant inside the store when six men allegedly accosted, handcuffed, and dragged the latter outside.

Tan called the NBI office and seek for assistance, informing that they were being brought to Metropsych.

NBI agents arrived and saw the complainant hogtied on a chair and was about to be brought inside the facility.

The NBI said they confronted the man’s wife but the latter failed to show any court order.

The complainant said he asked for the identification of the six men and was told that they were policemen and that he should not resist because they were arresting him.

According to the complainant, he and his wife have been separated for three years.

The wife alleged that she wanted her husband, who allegedly suffers from depression, to be put inside the facility for medication. She said her husband has been sending her death threats.

During the inquest proceeding, the three charged manifested to file counter-affidavit to answer the accusations filed against them. — Mylen P. Manto/NSA (FREEMAN)