NORTH COTABATO, Philippines – Authorities transferred to the provincial jail in Kidapawan City on Wednesday three suspected kidnappers arrested in Midsayap town last week as their cohorts could spring them out from the town’s detention facility.
The suspects, Digo Cadi Bagkal, Mohammad Pagayao, and their alleged leader, Adam Guimelon Sansaluna, were nabbed one after the other after attempting to snatch Monalita Cedeño, owner of a roadside drugstore at the Midsayap town proper.
A companion of Sansaluna’s group was killed in a shootout with a responding policeman detailed not far from the spot where the suspects commandeered Cedeño’s vehicle in their attempt to snatch and bring her to a riverside area at the border of Midsayap and Datu Piang town in Maguindanao.
Superintendent Renante de los Santos, Midsayap police chief, said they had to immediately transfer the suspects to the provincial jail due to persistent reports that a group is out to rescue them from the municipal jail.
De los Santos said they have sought the permission of the municipal court for the suspects’ transfer to the provincial jail.