Selecta exec abducted

An executive of an animal feeds trading firm was abducted by four still unidentified gunmen shortly after midnight yesterday in Caloocan City.

Senior Superintendent Benjardi Mantele, Caloocan City police chief, identified the victim as Danilo Bautista, 34, operations manager of Selecta Feeds located along Susano Road, Barangay 170, Caloocan City North.

Bautista’s companion, Joemel Esperga, 24, helper-driver, was left behind by the suspects but not before he was hit on the head with the butt of a handgun. One of the suspects carried an assault rifle, investigators said.

Superintendent Dionicio Borromeo, Caloocan police intelligence chief, initially ruled out kidnapping for ransom since no ransom has been demanded. He ordered the station’s follow-up unit, led by Inspector Marcelino Mariano, to go after the suspects.

Borromeo said the abduction could be a result of a power struggle for a top position in the company. He said they are eyeing as a suspect a former supervisor of the firm, whose identity is temporarily withheld.

Investigators said they were told by the victim’s family that prior to the abduction – around the second week of October – Bautista received a box containing a letter with an Armalite bullet.

"P-----ina mo. Ikaw ang balakid sa mga pinagkakakitaan ko sa kumpanya," the letter allegedly stated.

Senior Superintendent Marcelino Franco Jr., Northern Police District director, agreed that the abduction was not the handiwork of a kidnap-for-ransom gang.

"We are ruling out KFR in this case," he said, adding that the abduction could be related to an internal conflict at Selecta Feeds.

Franco said Bautista also served as supervisor of the firm, responsible for hiring and firing employees. He added that the victim had previously received a death threat, accompanied by a miniature coffin.

Police said the kidnappers struck at 12:30 a.m. in Bagumbong Dulo, Barangay 171 as Bautista and Esperga were on their way home.

SPO3 Jose Olaer, Police Community Precinct 14 commander, said they received a phone call from a concerned citizen informing them that a man onboard a blue Mitsubishi Adventure (WDG 932) was forcibly taken by four armed men and shoved inside a red Mitsubishi L-300 with no plates. The abductors sped toward Bulacan, leaving the wounded Esperga inside Bautista’s vehicle. – With Pete Laude