P4-M ransom sought for rice mill operator

CAMP SIONGCO, Maguindanao — Suspected members of the notorious Pentagon kidnap-for-ransom syndicate have asked for a P4-million ransom for an Ilonggo rice mill operator they snatched last Sunday in Koronadal City in what broke the long lull in kidnappings in Central Mindanao.

Police and military intelligence sources said they are certain that the victim, 31-year-old Leoncio Buenafe, was brought by his captors to a guerrilla enclave at the boundary of Sultan Kudarat and Maguindanao, known lairs of the Pentagon gang.

Radio reports in Koronadal City, capital of South Cotabato, said the captors of Buenafe, led by a certain Commander Aguila, have relayed their P4-million ransom demand through text messages to the rice mill operator’s parents.

Buenafe last left his hometown of Noralla in South Cotabato for Koronadal City Sunday morning. His vehicle, a silver Honda CRV 4x4, was found by members of the Army’s 37th Infantry Battalion along a secluded stretch of the Cotabato-Koronadal Highway in Shariff Aguak, Maguindanao the following day, prompting probers to initially suspect that he was being held captive in a guerrilla lair in the province.

But Brig. Gen. Agustin Dema-ala, commander of the Army’s 301st Infantry Brigade, cited reports that Buenafe’s vehicle was deliberately abandoned in Barangay Maitum-a-ig in Shariff Aguak to mislead pursuing lawmen.

"We have been receiving persistent reports that the passengers of the vehicle found there transferred to another vehicle after pulling over and subsequently, headed back to the direction of Koronadal City," he said.

Dema-ala, however, said they are not discounting the possibility that the kidnappers could have brought Buenafe to a remote area at the boundary of Sultan Kudarat and Maguindanao.

"We have tapped the help of religious leaders, local executives and even barangay officials in these areas to help the military and the police locate the captive," he said.

Dema-ala said their intelligence units are also looking into soldiers’ reports that two sachets of shabu and drug sniffing paraphernalia were found inside the recovered vehicle of Buenafe.

"We are looking at all the possible angles of this case," he said. — With John Paul Jubelag and Roel Pareño