Pasay, Parañaque, Pampanga report 80% of 2022 kidnappings

MANILA, Philippines — The cities of Paranaque and Pasay in Metro Manila and Pampanga province are the three areas in the country where a majority of kidnappings were recorded this year.

Data from the police Anti-Kidnapping Group (AKG) showed that 31 kidnappings were reported from January to September this year. Of this number, 25 or 80.64 percent occurred in Luzon.

The areas in Luzon where most of the cases happened are in Paranaque with seven, and Pasay and Pampanga with six each. A common denominator among the three is they host most of the Philippine offshore gaming operator (POGO) firms in the country.

The AKG also documented three cases in Makati and two more in Manila.

Kidnapping cases were also recorded in other parts of the country. These are Cebu with two incidents, and one each in Bulacan, Lanao del Norte, Iligan City, Surigao del Sur and Sulu.

Seventeen of the 31 cases recorded so far this year are POGO-related while one took place in a casino. The remaining 13, meanwhile, are considered as traditional kidnapping for ransom incidents.

For the whole of 2021, 36 kidnappings were recorded in the country: 29 in Metro Manila, two each in Cavite and Pampanga and one each in Nueva Ecija, Davao del Sur and Bacolod City.

Henry Lim Bon Liong, president of the Federation of Filipino Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Inc., urged the Filipino-Chinese community to remain calm and cooperate with the AKG for proper action should a kidnapping happen.