2 kidnap gang leaders presented at Crame

Two of the country’s most wanted kidnappers were presented to President Arroyo yesterday by police, a day after she ordered a renewed crackdown on kidnappings.

Meanwhile, a kidnapped Chinese-Filipino businessman was rescued by police yesterday in a raid in which one of the five suspects was killed, police reported yesterday.

In a press conference at Camp Crame, alleged kidnap suspects Vilmor Catamco, 33, and Allan Niegas, 29, were paraded by Mrs. Arroyo before the cameras.

Catamco, an alleged member of the so-called Fajardo kidnap gang, was arrested on Dec. 2 in Masbate a day after the National Anti-Kidnapping Task Force (Naktaf) put out a wanted poster of the country’s 10 most wanted kidnap suspects.

Three days later police arrested Niegas, an alleged senior leader of the so-called Waray-Waray kidnap gang in Leyte.

Mrs. Arroyo ceremoniously crossed out the photographs of Niegas and Catamco from the Naktaf wanted poster with a red marker, leaving seven suspects still at large.

Catamco and Niegas were arrested following information from tipsters, Mrs. Arroyo said.

Catamco and Niegas have bounties of P500,000 and P1,000,000 respectively, for information that would lead to their arrest.

"I would like to congratulate our National Anti-Kidnapping Task Force, headed by Secretary Angelo Reyes, for two new strikes again by law enforcement against kidnapping groups," Mrs. Arroyo said in a press conference at Camp Crame.

"The community trusted the police enough to report them because everyone recognized their faces," she said.

Catamco was arrested at his home in San Pascual, Masbate, while Niegas was nabbed in his native Capoocan, Leyte, authorities said.

Both their groups operated in Metro Manila and in the provinces and preyed mostly on rich Chinese-Filipinos.

Catamco’s arrest came a day after a tipster on Monday told police about his whereabouts after seeing the wanted poster. He was alleged involved in a 2001 abduction.

Niegas is allegedly involved in at least eight kidnappings — six of them during the year, the other two in December 2002.

Meanwhile, businessman Jose Maga, 43, was rescued in a police raid on the kidnap gang’s hideout in Dasmariñas, Cavite, town police chief Superintendent Rhodel Sermonia said.

Maga was snatched by four men last Tuesday from the parking lot of SM Centerpoint shopping mall in Sta. Mesa, Manila.

Two suspects were arrested and police are hunting down two others who escaped during a shootout.

Under pressure to curb the resurgence of kidnappings that could threaten her chances of winning next year’s presidential elections, Mrs. Arroyo on Thursday ordered Reyes, her former defense secretary, to step up efforts to dismantle kidnap gangs.

She also clarified in yesterday’s press briefing that she was not making a vow to have the Christmas season "kidnap-free," explaining that she wanted all efforts made to prevent incidents during the holidays.

"One person cannot stop kidnapping alone," she said in the Camp Crame press conference.

Taking her anti-crime campaign a step further, Mrs. Arroyo reversed herself yesterday and lifted the moratorium on death penalty executions.

Executions are carried out by lethal injection.

In September last year, Mrs. Arroyo indefinitely suspended executions until Congress decides on whether or not to abolish the death penalty.

The law can only be repealed if both the House of Representatives and the Senate arrive at a consensus.

Angered by the surge of abductions, the influential Chinese-Filipino community earlier demanded a resumption of executions and threatened not to support Mrs. Arroyo’s 2004 presidential bid if she refused.

Mrs. Arroyo had said the moratorium would stay, arguing that capital punishment failed to deter heinous crimes, including kidnapping.

Kidnap gangs often prey on Chinese-Filipinos, who are perceived to be wealthier and less likely to report incidents to the police. — With Marichu Villanueva, Rene Alviar, Jaime Laude