Coke exec killed in botched kidnap

A Coca-Cola executive, whose abandoned sports utility vehicle had been the subject of a police investigation the other day, was found dead early yesterday in Parañaque City after a suspected botched kidnap attempt.

The body of Betty Sy, 32, a Chinese-Filipino, was found wrapped in a blanket and stuffed in a trash bag near a seafront subdivision in the city.

The dead woman, a commercial finance manager of Coca-Cola Export Corp. and resident of Barangay Nagkakaisang Nayon in Quezon City, was abducted by unidentified men on Monday.

Reports said she was shot twice in the right leg. Bloodstains were found in her abandoned Toyota RAV4 (XHZ-210) in Quezon City where she was last seen.

Sy was discovered at around 4 a.m. by Albert Dinosa, a security guard assigned to man the gate of the Marina Bay Homes along Pacific Avenue.

She was reportedly abducted by eight men the other day at the corner of Cuenca and Dapitan streets in Barangay Biak-na-Bato in Quezon City.

The other witnesses said they saw the suspects carry an unconscious woman from the SUV into a Toyota Tamaraw FX then sped off toward Manila.

Walter and Wilfred Sy, the brothers of the victim, identified her as the owner of the SUV.

Police said the suspects may have killed Sy during the abduction but still sought the payment of ransom for her release.

"They tried to hide the victim while thinking of ways to still get money from her family," Parena said.

Inspector Glen Tigson, chief of the Parañaque police Station Investigation Division, said they are coordinating with Central Police District operatives in the hunt for the suspects.

"We are also looking at every possible angle. As of now we do not know the motive," he said.

Coca-Cola Export Corp. management expressed shock over the untimely death of Sy.

"All of our thoughts and prayers go out to her family. We condemn this terrible act and we appeal to all who may have witnessed the crime to come forward and share whatever information they have with the authorities. We remain confident that our law enforcement agencies will bring the perpetrators of this terrible crime to justice swiftly," the company said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Chinese-Filipino community leader and Citizens Action Against Crime spokeswoman Teresita Ang-See expressed concern over the rise in kidnappings this year, most of them from her ethnic group.

More than 100 people have been kidnapped up to October, with one victim being snatched every three days, she said in a TV interview.

The figure is slightly higher than the 83 abductions stated by Angelo Reyes, the recently appointed head of a government task force against kidnapping, set up by President Arroyo following concerns expressed by the Chinese-Filipino community.

The official figure reflects a 31.7 percent jump in kidnappings from January to October last year.

Ang-See said that relatives of kidnap victim almost always paid ransom of about P1 million to P2 million. – With Cecille Suerte Felipe, AFP