3 meted death, 2 others life for Tsinoy’s kidnap

MALOLOS CITY — Three of five members of a notorious kidnap-for-ransom gang were sentenced to death here yesterday while the two others were meted life imprisonment for the abduction of a Filipino-Chinese businessman in Meycauayan town in October 2002.

In an 18-page decision, Judge Crisanto Concepcion of the Malolos Regional Trial Court Branch 12 meted the death penalty on Rolando Estrella, Jay Gregorio and Ricardo Salazar for having masterminded the abduction of Jimmy Ting.

The two others, Efren Gascon and Danilo Bergonia, were sentenced to suffer reclusion perpetua (life imprisonment) for being accomplices.

Ting said he was kidnapped on the night of Oct. 8, 2002 while he, together with his sister and a cousin, was on his way home on board his Honda CRV.

Ting testified that two motorcycle-riding men drove near his car and threw something under the vehicle that burst a rear tire.

He said he called up his office and sought the help of his maintenance workers, who promptly rushed to the scene and started replacing the flat tire.

It was at this point when four men approached him and asked if he was Jimmy Ting.

Ting said one of the men then poked a gun at him, while the others introduced themselves as National Bureau of Investigation agents and accused him of being a dealer of illegal drugs.

The four men then dragged him to a maroon Tamaraw FX. He recalled that he was hit on the head with a gun as he was shoved inside the vehicle.

While inside the van, his abductors tied his hands and claimed that they were members of the New People’s Army, which would pass a sentence on him.

Ting was brought somewhere in the Ilocos region where his kidnappers demanded a ransom of P50 million, of which P1.78 million was actually paid.

A joint team of the Police Anti-Crime Emergency Response (PACER) and the Ilocos police arrested the five convicts and rescued Ting on the night of Oct. 14, 2002.

During the trial, Ting positively identified the five as his kidnappers.

The court also ordered the convicts to indemnify Ting and his parents with P100,000 as moral damages.