Thus, when two of his alleged kidnappers showed up at the Tagaytay City jail at dawn last Wednesday, his heart skipped a beat.
He identified Inspector George Ylanan, detailed at the Congressional Oversight Committee on Dangerous Drugs at Camp Crame, and Mario Abbu as two of his four kidnappers last Tuesday.
Ylanan and Abbu were reportedly visiting PO1 Noel Villalobus, an operative of the Police Security Protection Office also at Camp Crame, and Samsodin Sarif who were nabbed earlier for Hernandez’s kidnapping.
Ylanan and Abbu were immediately handcuffed and imprisoned along with their supposed cohorts.
Senior Superintendent Roberto Rosales, Cavite police director, said Hernandez’s wife, Violeta, reported to authorities last Tuesday that armed men were demanding P1 million in exchange for her husband’s freedom.
The ransom demand was later reduced to P20,000.
Rosales said Tagaytay City police set up an entrapment at the Rojonet Restaurant on Gen. Aguinaldo Highway, which the suspects designated as the payoff venue.
While the exchange was being done, a brief shootout ensued between policemen and the suspects that resulted in the arrest of Villalobus and Sarif. A caliber .38 revolver with six bullets was seized from them.
Ylanan and Abbu were able to flee toward the direction of Nasugbu, Batangas aboard a Nissan Safari, Rosales said.
Chief Superintendent Jaime Caringal, Calabarzon (Cavite-Laguna-Batangas-Rizal-Quezon) police director, has recommended summary dismissal proceedings against Ylanan and Villalobus.
"They have no place in the police force. They should not be in the police service," Caringal said.
Charges of kidnapping and robbery/extortion have also been filed against the two policemen and their two cohorts. — With Christina Mendez