Wong suspect yields

A leader of the Red Scorpion Gang (RSG) believed to be behind the kidnapping and murder of Filipino-Chinese businesswoman Connie Yap Wong and a Manila policeman gave himself up to the police Thursday night amid an intensifying manhunt for members of the group.

Informed about the surrender of Frederick Valencia, suspected leader of the RSG which specializes in kidnapping for ransom in Metro Manila and nearby provinces, President Arroyo expressed optimism an early solution of the case would discourage other crime groups from committing more kidnappings for ransom.

Valencia was subjected to tactical interrogation before he was presented in a police line-up for identification by witnesses, including Arcangel Barquilla, Wong’s driver-bodyguard, who survived the carnage.

"We have good leads and we are optimistic that the Wong case will soon be solved," Philippine National Police chief Director General Leandro Mendoza told reporters.

Mendoza said Barquilla, whose account of his survival initially raised serious doubts among police investigators, was being held for further questioning, but may be used only as a state witness.

"He is being questioned to shed light on the incident. He may turn witness," Mendoza said.

Wong was the sister of Uratex Foam Corp. owner Robert Cheng, whose daughter Mary Grace Cheng-Rogasas was also kidnapped last June 18 but released unharmed 15 hours later amid rumors about payment of a P20-million ransom.

Wong was reportedly seized along with Manila policeman PO1 Dionisio Borca Jr. and Barquilla by seven heavily armed men early Monday morning in Barangay Manresa in Quezon City.

The bodies of Wong and Borca were found by residents along Galas street in Barangay Bignay, Valenzuela City on Wednesday morning.

The victims sustained a single gunshot wound each in the head.

Barquilla said Wong and Borca were executed by their captors after ransom negotiations bogged down.

He claimed one of the kidnappers also tried to shoot him, but the gun malfunctioned, and the suspects simply left him unharmed.

Police said Barquilla also claimed that at the time of the execution, he and Borca were handcuffed together. It was still unclear how he was able to cut himself loose and seek the help of local residents in reporting the crime to the police.

Meanwhile, Deputy Director Hermogenes Ebdane Jr., chief of the National Anti-Kidnapping Task Force, said he deployed more men to track down the remaining suspects in the Wong-Borca case.

Ebdane said Valencia’s group, called "Ambot Gang," was believed behind the recent spate of kidnappings in Metro Manila and surrounding provinces.

The group consisted of remnants of the RSG which disbanded following the slaying of its leader, Alfredo "Joey" de Leon, in an alleged shootout with the police six years ago.

A member of the original RSG currently under police detention has told investigators that Valencia enjoyed strong ties with certain ranking police officials particularly members of the defunct Presidential Anti-Crime Commission which was headed by then Vice President Joseph Estrada.

The informant, identified as Joey Guillermo, turned himself in to clear his name after he was implicated in the previous abduction of Mary Grace and Dionisio Borca Sr., father of the slain policeman.

Police said the elder Borca worked as personal driver and bodyguard of Mary Grace who was allegedly snatched by unidentified armed men at the University of the Philippines, along with Borca and another bodyguard-driver identified as Val Torres.

Guillermo also told the police that the Ambot Gang was behind at least nine kidnapping incidents in Metro Manila and nearby provinces, including that of lawyer Jose Sibal who was seized along Roces Avenue in Quezon City in September 1998.

Sibal’s kidnappers demanded P20 million for his release, but agents of the now defunct Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force (PAOCTF) then headed by police chief now Sen. Panfilo Lacson rescued the victim before the ransom could be delivered.

The PAOCTF agents also arrested nine suspected members of the gang, including Valencia, Guillermo and Rey Sarabia, leader of the Sarabia Gang that joined forces with the Ambot Gang.

The suspects were appropriately charged before the Quezon City Prosecutor’s Office, but Valencia and Guillermo were allegedly dropped as respondents for no apparent reason.

Guillermo and Valencia went into oblivion for some time, until the former turned up as driver-bodyguard of Superintendent James Melad, formerly of PAOCTF and erstwhile provincial police director for Isabela.

Ebdane said Valencia and his cohorts were also behind the kidnappings of a certain Sobremante in January 1996 in Parañaque City; Malou Carag in July 1997 along Visayas Avenue in Quezon City; Geraldine Ong in October 1997 at Barangay Paltok, also in Quezon City; Agustin Uy in November 1997 in Sta. Cruz, Manila; Clement Velasco on May 10, 1998 along Araneta Avenue in Quezon City; Frederick Mendoza and Remine Ofilas sometime in 1998 along Taft Avenue in Manila.

Police said Valencia’s group has amassed an estimated P55.5 million in ransom payments since 1996.

They said the group has apparently made Valenzuela where they maintained a chain of hide-outs their base of operation for easier mobility.

"This allows them to move swiftly to their target places from their safehouses," a police source said.

Prior to the Wong-Borca case, kidnap rings in the city snatched Jessica and Jannsen Ang last Sept. 1. The victims were released later un undisclosed amount in ransom.

Sources said the kidnappers have demanded P10 million. The kidnappers, one of them allegedly a distant relative of the victims, were reportedly arrested by the poolice a few days after the ransom was settled.

Police theorized that kidnap-for-ransom gangs were thriving in Valenzuela because the city hosts numerous industries owned by Filipino-Chinese nationals.

Northern Police District head Chief Superintendent Vidal Querol and Valenzuela police director Leopoldo Urena both expressed confidence that other suspects in the Wong-Borca case would fall soon. They did not elaborate. — With reports from Jerry Botial, Marichu Villanueva