Girl "concocts" kidnap story

CEBU, Philippines - A 13-year-old girl who went missing since last Wednesday went home yesterday and told Danao City policemen and her parents that she was kidnapped.

Authorities, however, found inconsistencies in the story of the girl, who ended up admitting hours later that she just made up the whole story to avoid being scolded.

She initially claimed that she was with three female friends when they were forced to board a white van bearing plate number MXS-185. The girl said she saw some 22 other kids allegedly recruited by a Filipina together with a foreigner. They were supposedly taken to Cebu City and promised a job.

She said when they reached barangay Cantumog, Danao City, she tried to fight and ran away. The rest also escaped and scampered towards barangay Binungkal, Catmon town, where they were allegedly shot by the kidnappers.

Catmon town is about 10-15 kilometers away from Danao.

But the police found, after checking with the Land Transportation Office, that the plate number does not exist.

The police also made a follow up operation immediately at the mentioned upland barangays, where the kids supposedly disembarked from the vehicle, but failed to recover any evidence.

Cebu Provincial Police Office director Patrocinio Comendador found the girl’s story inconsistent and hard to believe.

Comendador told The FREEMAN that the girl failed to give him the full names and the address of her friends. Residents along the road also denied seeing a white van.Her parents went to the police station Thursday morning saying their daughter was missing since Monday.

Early yesterday, Police Chief Inspector Alvin Balio, chief of the Danao Police Station, said they would check other barangays to check the veracity of the girl’s claim.

But last night, Comendador disclosed that the girl admitted she only went to Calvario, Danao City with some friends and made up the kidnap story because she was afraid of her parents. (FREEMAN)