Kidnap gang leader, pal arrested

President Arroyo vowed yesterday an intensified campaign against kidnappers as police announced the arrest of a kidnap gang leader whose group engaged police in a bloody shootout during a rescue operation earlier this week.

Ramon Go, a Filipino who served in the US Navy, was arrested Thursday in Bulacan, said police Deputy Director General Hermogenes Ebdane, the National Anti-Kidnapping Task Force chief.

Go’s group, called the Esting Gang, on Monday abducted Evelyn Jao, her son Aaron Jao and family driver Rolly Tugado in Makati City near the young Jao’s school, and took them to a hideout in a densely populated neighborhood in San Francisco del Monte, Quezon City.

Police on Wednesday stormed Go’s hideout shortly after the hostages were released after an undisclosed amount of ransom was paid.

A standoff and exchange of gunfire ensued during which a police officer, SPO4 Edmundo de Leon, was fatally shot and four of Go’s men were captured, including a doctor who is believed to be a close family friend of the Jaos.

Go escaped during the raid, but was arrested Thursday along with Armando Ambrosio, the gang’s lookout and driver, following tips from concerned citizens, Ebdane said.

"With the arrest of the six suspects, all those involved in the Jao kidnap for ransom case are now in custody," Ebdane said.

Mrs. Arroyo hailed the slain policeman a hero, ordered De Leon’s posthumous promotion and financial assistance to his family.

"The operation against the Esting Gang is an example of good intelligence work, preparation, training and dedication to police work," the President told reporters.

"The government will not stop until all kidnapping syndicates are destroyed in the whole of the country," she added.

Go and Ambrosio were intercepted by police agents while riding a motorcycle in Samantha Village, Sapang Palay, San Jose del Monte.

Seized from the suspected Esting chief were P47,000, a motorcycle, one US camouflage uniform, 15 pieces of fake P1,000 bills, and 21 pieces of P100 bills, also fake.

Lawmen seized from the suspect’s Sapang Palay residence a three-in-one computer (printer, scanner, copier) which the group purportedly used in the manufacture of bogus currency.

Go and Ambrosio were presented to media at Camp Crame yesterday by National Anti-Crime Commission chairman Hernando Perez, who is also justice secretary.

The four other suspects who surrendered after running out of ammunition in Wednesday’s shootout were identified as Frank Gajis, Ernesto Cantere, Romy Figueroa, and Hans Tan.

Go denied any involvement in kidnapping operations but admitted to Secretary Perez that he manufactured fake peso bills.

Other members of the group, meanwhile, tagged Tan, a doctor, as their financier.

The Esting Gang was also believed responsible for the abduction of businessman Jake Ocampo in Bulacan in May last year.

Meanwhile, police said they had also arrested a 20-year-old woman who abducted a seven-year-old boy this week.

The boy was then abandoned in a Bulacan cemetery by the suspect, who was later arrested. She was negotiating for ransom but apparently panicked.

Rescued was Nathaniel Corcuera, a grade one pupil, who was snatched by suspect Lirio Concepcion as he emerged from St. John School in San Ildefonso town Thursday afternoon.

The suspect, a relative of the boy’s mother, brought the victim to the Sta. Rita Batang Cemetery in San Miguel town.

Concepcion called up Corcuera’s mother, Veronica, and demanded P1 million ransom, threatening that the boy would be harmed if she did not deliver.

Veronica, whose uncle Paul Cruz was himself a kidnap victim, then sought the assistance of Ebdane.

The anti-kidnapping team during negotiations succeeded in lowering the ransom demand to P300,000. Sensing she blew her cover, Concepcion abandoned the young Corcuera, who was helped by five minor scavengers before NAKTAF agents found him.

Based on the boy’s description of the suspect, agents arrested Concepcion in barangay San Juan, San Ildefonso.

Kidnapping for ransom has become a major problem in the Philippines, prompting President Arroyo to lift a ban on executions of convicted kidnappers in order to "strike fear" in the hearts of criminals.

Mrs. Arroyo has assured the Chinese community that she would push for the immediate execution of 95 convicted kidnappers on death row as soon as their cases are affirmed by the Supreme Court.

Various Muslim guerrilla groups in Mindanao are also separately holding two US nationals, an Italian priest and nine Filipinos. — With Christina Mendez