Twins snatched at Coastal

Unfazed by the death of three of their peers at the hands of lawmen in Cavite last Wednesday, kidnappers struck anew yesterday, seizing Chinese twin brothers along Coastal Road in Parañaque City.

Police identified the latest kidnap victims as Welvin Tai, 17, and his twin Ason, sons of Tai Shin Min, owner of a zipper factory, of Masbate Loop in Parañaque City. Taken with the twins was their driver Cerilo Co, 52, of P. Guevarra street, Sta. Cruz, Manila.

Initial investigation showed that the victims were on their way to the Chang Kai Shek School in Binondo, Manila in a Toyota Hi-Ace van driven by Co when a Starex van and a car blocked their way.

Three gunmen got off the two vehicles and at gunpoint ordered the twins and their driver to transfer to the Starex.

Co, who was dumped in Lemery, Batangas by the suspects hours later, said he was trussed up with a nylon cord and blindfolded, while his mouth was covered with packaging tape.

Co also said their abductors forced them to lie face down on the floor as the attackers drove to an unknown destination.

He said during the trip, he overheard one of the kidnappers say, "Okay na, general."

"Naramdaman ko na parang dumadaan kami sa zigzag (I felt that we were negotiating a zigzag)," the driver told police investigators in Lemery where the kidnappers allegedly left him at about 9:30 a.m., or three hours after they were snatched.

He said he managed to untie himself and seek assistance from local residents who accompanied him to the Lemery police station.

From Lemery, Co called up his boss by telephone to inform him about the incident.

Co said to his surprise, an elder sister of the twins, Elena Tai, told him that Welvin and Ason were already at home.

But police cast doubts on the veracity of Elena’s claim, saying it was impossible for the kidnappers to have driven back to Parañaque in just one hour, considering that Lemery is over 100 kilometers away from Manila.

The Tai kidnapping came only a day after three suspected kidnappers were gunned down by crack operatives of the Police Anti-Crime Emergency Response in General Trias, Cavite.

Those slain were identified as Rodolfo Patinio, 34, of Olivares South subdivision in Biñan, Laguna; and former Marine soldiers Diosdado Santos, 390, of Rimville Marikina City; and Eugene Radam, 34, address unknown.

Patinio, along with Faisal Marohombsar, leader of the dreaded Pentagon kidnap group based in Central Mindanao, and Abdul Macaumbang, escaped last June 19 from a maximum security detention center of the defunct National Anti-Kidnapping Task Force headquarters in Camp Crame,

Marohombsar was likewise killed last Aug. 25 in a shootout with the police in Magallanes town, also in Cavite, during a rescue operation for kidnap victim Patricia Lopez-Chung, niece of media mogul Eugenio Lopez.

Luck ran out on 2 suspects

Luck ran out on two holdup suspects who were arrested yesterday by the police after their victim spotted them driving her stolen car along Kamuning Road in Quezon City.

Arrested were Benjie Medes, 20, and Jesus Madrigale, 42, both of Antipolo City. They are now detained at the Central Police District headquarters in Quezon City.

The victim, coed Anna Cristina Buendia, 23, of 273 Vice Roy st., East Fairview, Quezon City, said the suspects forcibly took her car, a Mitsubishi Lancer with license plates UMN-677, last Sept. 2.

Buendia narrated that she parked her car along Quirino Avenue at about 9:30 a.m. to wait for her mechanic who was buying spare parts from a nearby store.

Medes and Madrigale accosted Buendia and at gunpoint, took the wheel from her and drove off toward Tandang Sora Avenue where they ordered her to get off.

At about 7 p.m. the other night, Buendia was with some friends cruising along Kamuning Road in a Ford Ranger pick-up when she saw her car.

Buendia and her friends reported the incident to the police as they tailed the suspects who were eventually intercepted by a patrol car near EDSA.

Apart from the complainant’s car, police also confiscated from the suspects a .38 caliber pistol, a home-made shotgun, five live bullets and two knives. — With Matthew Estabillo