Kidnapped Chinese student freed; PNP says no ransom paid

MANILA, Philippines — The 14-year-old male Chinese student who was kidnapped last week was found in Parañaque City on Tuesday night.

Philippine National Police chief Gen. Rommel Francisco Marbil announced yesterday that the boy was found abandoned along Macapagal Avenue by composite teams from the PNP and Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

The victim was reunited with his father and was brought to an undisclosed hospital for medical examination.

The PNP released a photograph of the victim in a sweatshirt and pants and escorted by police officers.

Marbil said no ransom was paid, reinforcing the PNP’s stance against any form of extortion.

At a Palace briefing, Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla said the boy was reported missing by his parents after he did not return home from a school activity in Taguig City on Feb. 20.

His family later found their abandoned Ford Everest vehicle on the C-5 southbound off-ramp, initially raising alarms of a possible missing person case. The situation escalated the following day when the driver of the student was found murdered in San Rafael, Bulacan, inside another vehicle. Authorities ruled out the driver as a suspect.

Evidence found in the vehicle pointed to a sophisticated crime syndicate. “The contents include pictures, conversations, cellphone numbers, strategies, and casing of how they would do the job,” Remulla said.

The victim’s parents and the kidnappers had been communicating in Chinese through WeChat, a messaging app widely used in mainland China.

According to Remulla, the abductors demanded a ransom of $20 million, later reducing it to $1 million, but no payment was made when the parents rejected the renegotiated amount.

By Saturday, the abductors sent a disturbing video showing the child with a severed finger, increasing urgency to the case.

The following day, the parents asked for proof of life of the child and they received another video showing the child singing his younger sibling’s favorite song.

“The child sang, was smiling, and from that video, appeared to be in good health,” Remulla said.

On Monday evening, authorities tracked a vehicle using cellphone signals linked to one of the numbers discovered in an abandoned car in Bulacan.

Although authorities had a signal to trace, they couldn’t immediately identify which vehicle it originated from. During a hot pursuit operation on Tuesday, they were led to a barangay area where they found the child standing in the middle of the street.

“At approximately 8 p.m., they were a few hundred meters away from the cellphone that was moving. In that pursuit, a few minutes later in the Parañaque area, they saw a child in pajamas standing in the middle of the street with a bandaged hand. The choice was between chasing the vehicle or securing the child. Obviously, the AKG prioritized the child,” Remulla said.

As to the motive, PNP public information officer Col. Randulf Tuano said investigators are looking at the victim’s father’s previous connection with Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs) and his current business of selling merchandise online.

The syndicate believed to be responsible for the abduction consists of former POGO managers and their bodyguards, some of whom were previously affiliated with the AFP and PNP but have gone absent without leave. Authorities confirmed the group remains active in the country.

The AKG is also looking into what Tuano described as “malicious” posts on social media platforms by personalities critical of the government about the kidnapping case and is studying the filing of criminal cases against them for spreading false information.

President Marcos ordered the PNP to wipe out kidnapping syndicates in the country following the rescue. — Christine Boton, Helen Flores