Judge defers anew ruling on kidnap case

A Las Piñas judge postponed the promulgation of a seven-year-old kidnap case yesterday, the third time a scheduled hearing has been reset.

Regional Trial Court Judge Bonifacio Sanz Maceda of Branch 275 had to leave the fate of the suspects in the 1998 kidnapping of Chinese-Filipino Michelle Siu Ragos hanging since he has to polish and check his decision, given the voluminous testimonies of witnesses.

The victim’s family is expecting that the scheduled hearing on Aug. 16 would push through.

"I get confused with the names of the accused. The court is not yet ready. It is through with the decision, but it still has to polish it," said Maceda, who admitted that he also got sick.

Accused in the kidnap for ransom case are Bayan Abbas Adil, Rowena Amal Rajid, Omar Kamir, Sofia Hassan, Saimona Camsa, Brahim Lidasan, Alex Daliano, Sumulong Lawan, Nhokie Mohamad, Tadioden Bauting, Rocky Mocalam, Muslimen Wahab, Jimmy Alunan, Teng Usman, Roy Bansuan and Alvin Diang.

The victim was allegedly taken by the suspects at gunpoint from her office in Mapulang Lupa in Valenzuela City and then detained her at several safehouses in Las Piñas for eight days before police rescued her.

The suspects asked for P10 million in ransom, but the family only paid P4.8 million. The money was never recovered, the victim’s lawyer Sandra Marie Coronel said.

During court hearings, Ragos positively identified all the accused as her kidnappers.

Bauting turned state witness and pointed to Adil as the mastermind. Diang, on the other hand, remains at large.

Teresita Ang-See, spokesperson of the Citizens’ Action Against Crime and Corruption, admitted that they were surprised by the court’s postponement of the promulgation.