Tai twin freed near Film Center

Kidnap victim Welvin Tai was reunited with his twin brother Ason on Friday evening after he was released by abductors who dropped him off blindfolded in front of the Manila Film Center building at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) complex on Roxas Boulevard in Pasay City, authorities said yesterday.

Ason appeared to have dashed to safety at the height of the kidnapping on Thursday by unidentified men at the Coastal Road in Parañaque City.

Senior Superintendent Oscar Catalan, Pasay City police chief, told The STAR that a Film Center security guard, Eduardo Liwanag, called the Pasay City police after he found Welvin in front of the building at around 8:30 p.m.

Responding Pasay City policemen initially brought Welvin to a precint near the CCP complex and was escorted later to the Pasay City police headquarters, where his family waited for him.

Asked how they managed to identify Welvin, Catalan said that "his family members were already waiting for him when he and his police escorts arrived at the headquarters."

He did not elaborate why Welvin’s family members found out that he was expected to arrive that night at the Pasay police headquarters.

Police investigators were confused on the circumstances surrounding the kidnapping of the 17-year-old twins together with their driver Cerilo Co last Thursday.

At Camp Crame, the Philippine National Police (PNP) remained mum over the release of Welvin.

But Senior Superintendent Rodolfo Magtibay, operations chief of the Batangas police, refused to talk about the case except to emphasize the fact that they had turned over the case the Police Anti-Crime Emergency Response.

Camp Crame sources said they could not ascertain whether ransom was paid. Other sources confirmed that the twins were now "at their home."

Co had told probers that they were their way to the Chang Kai Shek School in Binondo, Manila where the boys study at about 6:30 a.m. Thursday when three gunmen wearing bonnets and on board a van and a car intercepted their Toyota Hi-Ace van. The gunmen ordered them at gunpoint to transfer to the other vehicles.

Co said he was hogtied, blindfolded and his mouth covered with packaging tape. Kidnappers also ordered him to lie face down on the floor as the getaway vehicle sped to an unknown destination.

Co said he felt they negotiated a zigzag road before he was dumped at about 9:30 a.m. in a barangay in Lemery town in Batangas.

The driver said he managed to untie himself and through the help of local residents, he reported the kidnapping to Lemery police.

Initially, Parañaque police director Superintendent Ruben Catabona clarified that only Co and Ason were actually snatched by the kidnappers. It seemed that he had mistakenly identified Ason as the one kidnapped instead of Welvin.

It also seemed that Co was also confused as Catabona quoted him as saying Welvin was able to flee as Ason and Co were being herded to their getaway vehicle.

Authorities were puzzled by the twin’s kidnapping and were having difficulties finding leads because the Tai family reportedly refused to cooperate. Investigators were not allowed inside the Tai house, although the family sent Co to confer with the police at the gate. - With reports from Non Alquitran