Kidnappers free doctor for P7-M

A female physician from Caloocan City was freed by her kidnappers in Bacoor, Cavite at 2 a.m. yesterday from a week of captivity after her family reportedly paid P7 million in ransom.

Sources at the National Anti-Kidnapping Task Force (NAKTAF) told The STAR yesterday the family of Dr. Susan Nonado had secretly negotiated with the kidnappers for her freedom.

"Field reports reaching us confirmed the victim’s release after the P7-million ransom payoff," one of the sources said.

It was not known if No-nado’s unidentified driver had also been freed as part of the deal or if the kidnappers are demanding more money for him.

Nonado, whose family owns a hospital in Caloocan City, was snatched with her driver by unidentified gunmen along Zabarte Road in Novaliches, Quezon City at 10 p.m. on Feb. 12 while on their way home aboard her Nissan Terrano van.

Police believe the kidnappers waylaid the Terrano in a dark portion of the street before blocking its path and forcing Nonado and her driver at gunpoint to go with them.

The whereabouts of Nonado remained unknown for a week until she surfaced somewhere in Bacoor yesterday after her family was said to have paid the ransom as demanded by the kidnappers.

It is not yet known where the kidnappers are keeping Nonado’s driver, if ever they are still holding him captive, awaiting for the payment of ransom.

Police sources said the kidnappers had initially demanded a P20 million ransom for Nonado’s freedom when they talked by telephone with her husband, who is also a doctor.

Through secret negotiations, Nonado’s husband might have haggled with the kidnappers and convinced them that he could only pay P7 million, sources added.

Police found Nonado’s Terrano abandoned in front of a commercial bank in Pasay City on Feb. 14.

NAKTAF has not yet released any details about Nonado’s release or whether she had already been debriefed by police investigators regarding her one-week ordeal.

It is not known if Nonado had gone to NAKTAF to report her release from captivity or if she was found in Bacoor by anti-kidnapping agents and brought to Metro Manila.

NAKTAF sources also did not say how their agents learned that Nonado had been freed and that her family had paid a P7 million ransom to the kidnappers.

NAKTAF officials are generally keeping mum about the Nonado case, the 12th to be reported to the police since the beginning of the year.

Nonado’s family has not also said anything about her release nor how they were able to hand the money to the kidnappers without the police tailing them. –Jaime Laude