Japanese kidnap victim released

TANAUAN CITY, Batangas — The Japanese president of a company operating at the export processing zone in Rosario, Cavite was freed unharmed by his kidnappers yesterday afternoon.

The victim, Yukio Suzuki, 76, of Saitamaken, Kumagayo Niburi, Japan and president and chief operating officer of Murase Hotel Care Co., was snatched by three men last Wednesday.

Superintendent Francisco Rodriguez, city police chief, said tricycle drivers found Suzuki, his hands tied with an electrical cord, roaming aimlessly in front of the Himlayan sa Tanauan cemetery in Barangay Sambat at about 1:45 p.m.

The foreigner was dumped along the Southern Tagalog Arterial Road.

The victim could not ascertain if someone had raised money for his ransom. Police quoted an officer of the National Anti-Kidnapping Task Force (NAKTAF) as saying that Suzuki’s captors had demanded a P15-million ransom.

The NAFTAF officer, police said, did not confirm if the ransom payment pushed through.

Suzuki said his kidnappers were holding two other foreigners — another Japanese and a Korean — captive. He said he met them at the kidnappers’ hideout.

After he was seized, he said he was blindfolded and dragged inside an Asian utility vehicle (AUV). "During the ordeal, I felt that we were cruising a rough road," he said through an interpreter.

Suzuki has reportedly resided in the country since 1993. He travels to Japan four times a year.

He was brought to Camp Crame after being questioned at the regional police headquarters at Camp Vicente Lim in Canlubang, Calamba, Laguna.