Chinese trader coughed up P5 M to cop-kidnappers

A Chinese businessman, who was allegedly kidnapped by policemen and held for four days at the Western Police District (WPD) headquarters in Manila, said yesterday that his abductors demanded a ransom of P5 million from his family.

Edison Sy, exclusive distributor of Mariwasa tiles in Northern Luzon, has filed with the Department of Justice (DOJ) charges of kidnapping for ransom with robbery against seven policemen who allegedly abducted him and his three companions on June 7.

The policemen-suspects were identified as Chief Inspector Ferdinand Divina, Senior Police Officer 1 Allan Macalanda and SPO1 Joseph Cortez of the WPD intelligence group.

Also charged were SPO4 Norberto Lozada, SPO2 Charlie Cosam, SPO1 Danilo Monte and SPO1 Antonio Castillo of the Philippine National Police Narcotics Group (Nargroup).

Sources from the National Anti-Kidnapping Task Force (NAKTAF) said there were actually 11 men who were involved in the kidnapping, but Nargroup spokesman Senior Superintendent Teofilo Andrade refused to identify the four other policemen allegedly involved in the crime. Andrade also refused to identify two of the victims.

Probers said the policemen-suspects first kidnapped Tom Marcos, a Mariwasa executive, and Sy’s driver, who was not identified, at 6:30 p.m. on June 7.

Marcos was in Sy’s Ford Econovan which was then in the parking area of the Robinsons Galleria shopping mall in Mandaluyong City.

"They claimed that Mr. Edison Sy was a drug pusher," said a NAKTAF prober, speaking on condition of anonymity. He said the suspects appeared to have mistaken Sy for a certain drug lord identified as Edison Lao. Sy’s middle name is Lao.

Marcos and the driver were brought to a safehouse and were "interrogated" on Sy’s whereabouts. Marcos agreed to telephone Sy who sent the fourth victim to "negotiate" with the policemen who also detained him.

The policemen demanded that Sy come to fetch his three companions and he arrived at the safehouse at around 11:30 p.m. of Friday.

In his complaint, Sy said the policemen then brought them to the WPD headquarters along United Nations Avenue in Manila and were detained at the second floor office of the WPD intelligence unit.

However, no charges were filed against Sy nor was the detention recorded in the police blotter. Instead, the policemen demanded that Sy produce P5 million for their release and for the non-filing of "charges," Sy said.

Sy claimed Divina and his men stripped him of his Rolex watch, cash, 10 credit cards and forced him to sign a blank check in his wallet for P250,000 which was later encashed by an unidentified individual.

For the next three days, Sy and his three companions were detained at the WPD intelligence unit office. Sy only spoke with his wife on Sunday when he pleaded with the policemen to allow him to call her.

Sy and his companions were released at about noon of Sunday to a lawyer-friend, identified only as Lazo, who is from Laoag City in Ilocos Norte where Sy owns a gasoline station.

When the policemen were confronted by their superiors, Divina and his men said Sy and his three companions were turned over to the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP).

Nargroup officer-in-charge Chief Superintendent Ruben Cabagnot said on Tuesday that Divina and his men have been relieved from their posts for their involvement in the kidnapping.

The relieved policemen from the Nargroup were reassigned to the Operational Support Division at the PNP’s Camp Crame headquarters but it was not clear what action has been taken against Divina and the other WPD policemen.