Five armed men abduct businessman in Malabon

Five heavily armed men abducted a Filipino-Chinese businessman on his way home in Malabon Saturday night, the police said yesterday.

Steward Chu, 31, said to be the son of the owner of Malabon Mirror Company, was reportedly snatched at gunpoint while about to enter their compound at 42 Pineapple Road, Barangay Potrero, Malabon.

Investigation showed that the victim was aboard his white Ford F150 van at about 12:45 a.m. when his path was blocked by five armed men.

The group, after disarming the compound security guard identified as Danilo Mejia, boarded Chu’s vehicle and sped off with the victim, police said.

Superintendent Ernesto Fojas, Malabon police chief, said that he only learned of the incident at 9 a.m. Sunday, when one of his officers, Chief Inspector Wilfredo Ramos, was contacted by the victim’s family.

Fojas formed a team to handle the case, but the victim’s relatives reportedly refused to give any statement to the police.

At 11 a.m. of the same day, police received information from Potrero Barangay Chairman Eduardo Nolasco about an abandoned car along Kasoy Road in Potrero. The vehicle turned out to be Chu’s.

As of presstime yesterday, the police are still facing a blank wall. "We are still trying to convince the victim’s family to cooperate with us for the early solution of the case, but so far we got only negative response," Fojas said.

Fojas said that the only information the police gathered was that Chu contacted his family Sunday night telling them that he was all right. "We don’t know if there was any ransom demand," Fojas added.– Pete Laude and Cecille Suerte Felipe