PNP: No truth to abductions in Iloilo

ILOILO CITY, Philippines  — Text messages about abduction, or attempts to abduct, are circulating again in the city and province of Iloilo, but like before, these are nothing but a hoax, the Iloilo Police Provincial Office (IPPO) declared.

Senior Supt. Gil Lebin, IPPO director, said that after receiving the reports he already ordered the immediate conduct of an investigation. The result: “There is no proof or testimony that could support the allegations,” he said.

One of the text messages, written in the local dialect, was translated as follows: “Please be alert guys. There are groups from Manila. They are now in Capiz. One of their group members was arrested. They have been kidnapping children and teenagers. Recently in Balasan (town), they abducted three ladies. Please be informed and be alert.”

Further, the message also warned of the vehicles used by the purported abductors: A green van with plate number XMM-507 and a white van (VXM-357). The Balasan PNP however confirmed that there was no abduction of three girls, or any person for that matter, in that town, said Lebin.

Aside from Balasan, Lebin also received report that a boy from Dumangas town managed to escape by kicking one of the men who tried to abduct him. “It’s quite inconsistent. A child could not just kick his abductors and escaped from someone far stronger than he is,” Lebin said.

Lebin could not exactly point out what was the motive behind such hoax reports. “Maybe, they just wait to paint Iloilo province as an unsafe place,” he said.

Reports of attempts to abduct school children for organ scam were also reported last year, but the Iloilo City Police Office (ICPO) was able to prove these were not true. Even the Police Regional Office-6 investigation about men reportedly roaming several towns in Iloilo province to kidnap children showed that these were started by prank text messages from alarmed residents.

Police operatives from neighboring towns of Pototan, Mina, and Zarraga also debunked the veracity of similar reports.  (FREEMAN)