When you were on top, its hard when you fall off

[Monseratto]

Ex-solon in kidnap held
Cops save 3-year-old; 7 arrested


Posted 00:03am (Mla time) Feb 21, 2005
By Christian Esguerra, Luigi del Puerto
Inquirer News Service



Editor's Note: Published on page A1 of the Feb. 21, 2005 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer


FROM AN apartment in Cubao, Quezon City, neighbors could hear the cries of the boy: "Iuwi n'yo na po ako (Please bring me home)."

They had no idea that the child was a 3-year-old son of a Chinese-Filipino family who was abducted in Pasig City on Feb. 9 by three gunmen.

On Saturday night, 11 days after the abduction, the police anti-kidnapping unit rescued the boy from a couple hired to guard him.

Actor Dennis Roldan, a former congressman of Quezon City, was one of the seven suspects arrested in the operation, police announced yesterday.

One of the suspects pointed to Roldan as the alleged mastermind, Philippine National Police intelligence chief Director Robert Delfin said in an interview.

Roldan, 48, who had appeared in action movies and sometimes played villain roles, was a representative of Quezon City's third district from 1992 to 1995.

The kidnapped boy [name withheld as a matter of editorial policy] was playing with the couple's two children
when rescued, according to anticrime advocate Teresita Ang-See.

Police said the kidnappers initially demanded P250 million in exchange for the boy's release. It was the first time in recent years that a kidnap gang had asked for such a huge ransom, PNP Director General Edgar Aglipay told the Inquirer.

The first two months of this year has seen an upsurge in kidnappings -- five cases in just six weeks, said the Citizens Action Against Crime, an anticrime watchdog Ang-See heads.

"This year has been really bad," Ang-See said. "From a low last year, it seems kidnappers are hungry, thirsty this year."

At one point during the haggling over a lowered ransom demand, the kidnappers told the boy's family that "they had killed him, and that it was too late," Ang-See told the Inquirer.

The boy's mother, on hearing it, fainted.

Delfin said the initial demand even reached a high of P270 million.

Poor homework

"But they didn't do their homework," Ang-See said. "What they apparently didn't know was that the mother's father died last year [but that] based on Chinese customs, she could not get any inheritance."

Chinese women usually do not inherit the wealth of their parents, she said. It is the men who do.

"So that meant she could not afford the ransom," she added.

The kidnappers soon found out about this and reduced their demand to P50 million, then to P10 million, then P5 million and finally, P3 million.

Still, the family, which was into the plastics business, could not afford it.

"They already sold cars, but still they could not raise the amount," Ang-See said. "The kidnappers really overestimated the family's wealth."

At this point, she said the boy's family had no other choice but to seek assistance from the Police Anti-Crime Emergency Response (PACER), the main PNP anti-kidnapping unit.

Amateur group?

A PACER team placed Roldan and company under surveillance before arresting them in a series of operations, Delfin said.

Throughout the boy's ordeal, his family was given no proof that he was still alive, police said.

Delfin said the way the kidnappers handled the kidnapping drama suggested that the group was new in the business.

For one, they didn't do a complete background check on their victim and his family's financial background, police said.

Ang-See said that it was during the haggling over the lowered demand that the kidnappers said they had already killed the boy.

"It was very traumatic for the family," she said.

Ang-See said that by then, the anti-kidnapping unit had been able to trace the boy.

"The mother had already fainted ... She could not anymore answer the phone," Ang-See said. "So they consented (to a rescue effort). They could not stand it anymore."

"This is a very sadistic group," Ang-See said.

Number's up

Delfin said that throughout the negotiation, PACER operatives were trailing Roldan and his group.

On Saturday, they caught the group at an apartment at 107-E Harvard Street, Cubao district, between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m., Delfin said.

Among the first to be arrested was Alberto Pagdanganan (alias Vincent Tuazon), he said.

A certain Adrian Carlos Domingo, alias Choy, was later arrested in Calumpit town, Bulacan province, he added.

During interrogation, Pagdanganan tagged Roldan as the group's alleged mastermind, Delfin said, adding that Roldan later linked a certain Garces, a Quezon City barangay chair, in the abduction.

Investigators were still looking for a certain Suzette, Roldan's alleged girlfriend, who purportedly chose the boy as the target, Delfin said.

Too young to understand

Suzette is allegedly a friend of the boy's mother.

The child was asleep when he was handed over to his parents shortly after he was rescued.

"The family is very grateful ... They did not know if they could last another week," Ang-See said on the phone.

Quoting the boy's parents, she said the child seemed to have no sign of trauma. "Perhaps he is too young to understand it all," she said.

Penalty is death

Ang-See said the boy's rescue should serve as a warning to kidnappers.

"You really have to find another job," she said. "This is death penalty."

The police announcement said three men seized the boy at about 9 a.m. on Feb. 9 in front of Chef and Brewer Café and Restaurant on Sapphire Road and Emerald Avenue in Pasig.

They took off in a waiting white Honda CRV sport utility vehicle and sped off.

A witness said that before he was abducted, the boy was clinging onto his yaya's (maid's) hands on their way to his preschool.

Maid overpowered

When they reached the street corner, the CRV suddenly screeched to a halt near them.

The witness said at least one person got out of the car but that actually two men, with handguns, snatched the boy.

He said the maid wrestled for control of the child, but was overpowered.

On the same day, at about 9:30 p.m., the victim's family received a telephone call from a male caller, who introduced himself as Mang Ed, and demanded ransom.

Fearing for the boy's life, his family initially did not want to cooperate with the police, an officer said.

An investigator said the CRV and its occupants had been seen just a few blocks away from the kidnapping scene three days before the abduction.

"When asked by a guard what they were doing there, they said they were contractors. There is a fast-food chain being constructed nearby," the investigator said.

Cars switched

He said the abductors, who were last seen heading toward Robinson's Galleria Mall, could have switched cars in any of the parking areas of buildings in the area.

The PACER seized at least three vehicles in the operation against the kidnap group -- a Mitsubishi L-300 van (TEP-816), a green Mitsubishi Pajero SUV and a Nissan (GJF-455).

[pajerokid]

Tsk! Hirap talaga pag nalalaos.

[chieffy]

pumataol ba naman sa gwuardiya...eh kung di nga naman siyang isang kalahati pang T _ _ _ _ ... ngayon eh may ginawa na namang kabulastugan...

[ILuvDetailing]

T**g-I*a... 270M???!!! Ano kala niya kasing yaman ni Lucio Tan yung kinidnap niya??!!! Kung di ba naman siya bobo... este garapal pala. Kung dyan lethal injection dapat i firing squad yan para matuto mga hinayupak na yan!!!

[BlueBimmer]

stupid criminals, kikidnap di naman marunong hehehe

[notEworthy27]

couldn't they have at least removed the plate numbers? tsk tsk...masyadong nagpaniwala sa mga kontradiba roles sa movies. well thats not how everything works in the real world.

[mikaztro]

What a pitty. DR is a womanizer and a sabongholic. He also frequents night spots and casinos. That's why all of his fortunes have gone to waste.

I think that only goes to show the quality of our politicians, basketball players and actors combined. J/k!

[baiskee]

ano daw title ng movie?






















..ay, totong buhay pala..kala ko may upcoming movie sya.

[stinkaboy]

ano itsura nyan?

tisoy at mataas :D

[mudman]

palibhasa sanay na merong script na sinusundan... di na kailangan mag isip o kaya dumiskarte... kaya ayan bulilyaso ang shooting.. este operasyon nila... hehehe..