PNP watching cops involved in kidnapping

Police intelligence agents are closely monitoring the movements of certain policemen and soldiers with derogatory records for possible involvement in the latest wave of kidnappings in Metro Manila and nearby provinces.

This developed after a family driver who was kidnapped in Parañaque City the other day along with the twin sons of his employer told police investigators that he overheard one of their abductors talking on a cellular phone with someone he addressed as "general."

"OK na, general," Cerilo Co, 52, quoted one of the kidnappers as saying.

A senior police official cautioned, however, that it could merely have been a deliberate attempt by the kidnappers to mislead investigators.

Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Hermogenes Ebdane Jr., addressing the Manila Overseas Press Club (MOPC) Thursday night at the Manila Hotel, tried to downplay the issue, saying the number of so-called "hoodlums in uniform" was minimal.

A Camp Crame source said investigators were going over the records of certain police officials, some of whom were already retired.

The source, however, admitted, "For now, we don’t have any solid evidence, only derogatory records of some retired police officials."

Similar investigations were also reportedly being undertaken by the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

Police have placed Co under tactical interrogation regarding the abduction last Thursday of 17-year-old twins Welvin and Ason Tai by unidentified armed men along Coastal Road in Parañaque City.

Co told investigators he was driving the twins at about 6:30 a.m. to the Chiang Kai Shek School in Binondo, Manila, where the boys study, when three gunmen wearing bonnets and riding a van and a car intercepted their Toyota Hi-Ace van and at gunpoint, ordered them to transfer to the other vehicles.

Co said he was hogtied, blindfolded and his mouth covered with packaging tape, then told to lie face down on the floor as the getaway vehicle sped to an unknown destination.

Co said he felt they negotiated a zigzag road before he was dumped at about 9:30 a.m. in a barangay in Lemery town in Batangas.

The driver said he managed to untie himself and through the help of local residents, he reported the kidnapping to Lemery police.

Gunmen took only one of the twins

Parañaque police director Superintendent Ruben Catabona clarified that only Co and Ason were actually snatched by the kidnappers.

Catabona quoted Co as saying Welvin was able to flee as Ason and Co were being herded to their getaway vehicle.

It appeared that Welvin dashed to safety at the nearby Coastal Mall where a security guard identified as Edzel Alfaro protected the boy until his relatives arrived to take him home.

In his report to the Lemery police, Co asserted, however, that the twins were both seized by the gunmen.

He also said that from Lemery, he called up his boss to report the kidnapping, only to be told by the boy’s elder sister Elena that the twins were already safely at home.

Police probers were having a difficult time putting pieces of the abduction together as the Tai family allegedly refused to cooperate.

Investigators who tried to interview the Tais were not allowed inside the house, although the family sent Co to talk to the police at the gate.

Meanwhile, Ebdane said the police cannot prevent families of kidnap victims from paying ransom despite the government’s "no-ransom policy."

"We cannot force the families not to pay the ransom," Ebdane stressed.

During the MOPC forum, Ebdane also tried to clarify the so-called "tried and tested formula" in dealing with kidnappers by saying it was a three-pronged approach consisting of "professional police action, community cooperation and responsible media coverage (of the kidnapping)."

Pressed by reporters if the formula involved ransom payment, Ebdane replied; "It should be kept secret. We can discuss it in an executive session."

Negros Occidental Rep. Julio Ledesma, whose children Cristina, 10, and Julio Carlos Tomas, 5, were snatched last Friday by armed men in San Juan, said the victims were freed on Tuesday through what he called the "tried and tested formula," but refused to elaborate.

Ledesma also credited his fiancee, actress Assunta de Rossi, for applying a "woman’s touch" in securing the children’s freedom.

It was largely perceived, however, that a substantial amount of money changed hands for the children’s release.

Initial reports indicated that the kidnappers demanded a P50-million ransom.

Pressed by reporters to specify the ransom amount, Ledesma tried to evade the issue. "I’d rather not say. Let’s not sensationalize it. Let’s just say the amount was substantial," he said.

A source privy to the negotiations said Ledesma was able to haggle for only P5 million, but another source said the congressman was monitored to have withdrawn P40 million from a Makati branch of a foreign bank. — With a report from Marvin Sy