Former DPWH exec goes missing, denies abduction

A former official of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) who was reportedly missing since Sunday night and believed kidnapped returned home safely yesterday afternoon, saying he disappeared "for personal reasons."

Earlier report indicated that Romeo Panganiban, who served as DPWH director for Southern Tagalog during the Estrada administration, was snatched.by unidentified armed men shortly after he emerged from a family-owned cockpit arena in the capital town of Sta. Cruz, Laguna on Sunday night.

Crack operatives were immediately dispatched to track down the abductors and rescue Panganiban.

Chief Superintendent Domingo Reyes, police chief for Southern Tagalog, said Panganiban, 54, was on his way home in Ayala-Alabang, Muntinlupa City aboard his Toyota RAV-4 van when the kidnappers flagged him down in Barangay Bubukal in Sta. Cruz at about 9 p.m.

The abductors reportedly demanded P100 million for Panganiban’s release.

Reyes refused to comment on the ransom demand, but opined that the abduction could have been staged by either communist rebels of the New People’s Army or members of kidnap-for-ransom gangs.

Deputy Director General Hermogenes Ebdane Jr., head of the National Anti-Kidnapping Task Force, also declined to give information about the incident, saying it might prejudice on-going operations.

Sta. Cruz Mayor Dennis Panganiban, a brother of the missing engineer, virtually confirmed the abduction.

Dennis said he has visited his brother’s house in Alabang, saying the family has informed him Romeo has been missing since Monday.

Camp Crame officials, quoting Panganiban’s relatives, said he came home at about 3:30 p.m. yesterday with the same vehicle he was using when he disappeared. – With Rene Alviar