70% of kidnap victims now Pinoys — Lacson

BAGUIO CITY — Kidnap-for-ransom gangs in the country have apparently shifted strategy and are now eyeing wealthy Filipinos and their families instead of the "traditional" Filipino-Chinese victims, opposition Sen. Panfilo Lacson said here yesterday.

Lacson, former chief of Philippine National Police (PNP) and the defunct Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force (PAOCTF), said 70 percent of kidnapping victims in Metro Manila are no longer Chinese but Filipino businessmen.

Lacson belied the claim of PNP chief Director General Leandro Mendoza that kidnapping syndicates have shifted their operations from Metro Manila to the countryside.

"That is incorrect," Lacson argued, claiming he had documents emanating from the PNP that point to the "deteriorating peace and order situation in the country."

While Lacson did not reveal details of the documents or provide statistics, he said most of the kidnappings are never reported and even the police could scarcely keep track of them if not for non-government organizations and anti-crime groups which monitor such abductions.

"(The NGOs) will tell you how rampant and how disturbing the situation is," he said.

"To solve kidnapping, you simply solve individual cases. If we are not able to solve them, it will flourish because it will encourage more kidnappings," Lacson said, also belying the claim of National Anti-Kidnapping Task Force (NAKTAF) chief Deputy Director General Hermogenes Ebdane.

In a memorandum to all police units over the weekend, Ebdane, the incoming PNP chief, claimed the NAKTAF had a "crime solution efficiency rating" of 60.6 percent.

The NAKTAF was originally created by President Arroyo to crack down on kidnapping incidents in the country but its mission was later limited to cases involving Filipino-Chinese businessmen, while men under Mendoza’s command handled the kidnapping of Filipinos and other nationals.

Police still clueless on Germans’ kidnap

Lacson made the claim here almost a month after a secretary to the German ambassador, identified as Claudia Melo, and her husband Jose were kidnapped by armed men while visiting Ifugao and Mountain Province at around 8 a.m. of April 21.

Cordillera regional police director Chief Superintendent George Aliño said he has not received any report on the alleged kidnapping. Regional tourism director Pura Molintas also denied knowledge of the incident.

The Melo couple were released here on April 27 after they were forced to withdraw, through bank automated teller machines, a total of P80,000 from their savings accounts, according to regional risk assessment firm Pacific Strategies Assessment (PSA).

There were no details on the kidnapping but local officials said 10 heavily armed men on board a Kia Besta van abducted the couple as they were on their way to visit Sagada, Mt. Province after visiting Banaue, Ifugao.

The couple were separately brought to Solano, Nueva Vizcaya to withdraw P20,000, the maximum daily withdrawal allowed through ATMs, from their account.

The couple were then shuttled to Bontoc, Mt. Province then Tabuk, Kalinga before they were brought to Baguio City, where they even stayed at the Villa Transient House along Lower P. Burgos street.

The PSA claimed the incident is still being investigated by Camp Crame probers while the German embassy has declined to comment.

Pinoy kidnap victims raumatized by ordeal

Meanwhile, two Filipinos who were rescued unharmed from their abductors last month are still traumatized by their experience and continue to fear for their lives.

Fishing company executive Lorna Landicho and her cousin Elvira Madla were kidnapped on April 22 by armed men who introduced themselves as policemen at the Navotas Fishport along the C-3 road in Caloocan City.

Three of the kidnappers were arrested in their hideout in Cogeo Village in Antipolo City while four of their cohorts were arrested at a busy intersection in Barangay Masinag, also in Antipolo.

Landicho admitted she has been traumatized by her ordeal and still wakes up in the middle night because of bad dreams recalling the incident.

"I can still recall what happened vividly in my dreams. I get goose bumps every time I see a car of the same make which was used to kidnap us," Landicho said.

Landicho and Madla, both of Filipino-Chinese ancestry, were among the fishing company executives who presented plaques of appreciation to policemen who were involved in rescuing them from their abductors.

Another fishing company executive, Alonso Tan, who is also president of the Fish Traders Association of the Philippines, said it is time to put a stop to the kidnapping of Filipino-Chinese fish traders.

These kidnapping cases, Tan said, gravely affect the business climate in the Caloocan City, Malabon, Navotas and Valenzuela (Camanava) area.

Tan confirmed that several of the group’s members have been kidnapped but opted not to report the incident to the police for fear of reprisals.

Bernardo David, also a member of the association, said it is time to put to a stop to kidnapping of Filipino-Chinese fish traders.

Madla’s husband, Boac, Marinduque Mayor Roberto Madla also urged the police to continue their "good work" in clamping down on kidnapping syndicates all over the country. - With AFP report