Charges filed vs kidnappers of Uratex owner’s daughter

The Department of Justice has filed charges of kidnapping for ransom against two principal suspects in last year’s abduction of a daughter of wealthy Filipino-Chinese businessman who himself was snatched and freed after paying huge amount of money.

State Prosecutor Philip Kimpo said there was concrete evidence to pin down Rolando Villaver and his cousin Edgardo Decipulo for the June 18, 2001 kidnapping of Mary Grace Rosagas, daughter of Uratex Foam Philippines owner Robert Cheng.

A third suspect in the case, Eugene Radam, was reportedly killed in a shootout with crack police agents in General Trias town in Cavite last week.

Rosagas’ bodyguard, Valentin Torres, tagged Villaver and Decipulo as two of three men who snatched them at the University of the Philippines campus in Diliman, Quezon City.

Torres told investigators that it was Villaver who flagged down his employer’s Mercedez Benz car while Decipulo put the handcuff on him and at gunpoint, herded them into the suspect’s getaway vehicle, a Mitsubishi Adventure.

Torres said Villaver and Decipulo, both currently detained at Camp Crame in Quezon City, were wearing police uniforms when they staged the abduction.

Kimpo said Torres was so sure of his identification of Villaver and Decipulo, claiming the witness had a good look at the two suspects during the kidnapping.

Earlier, Torres identified the three suspects in a rogues’ gallery or pictures of suspected criminals shown them by operatives of the defunct National Anti-Kidnapping Task Force.

"Under the facts of the case, the inescapable conclusion is that there exists a strong and convincing evidence to prove that they are indeed liable for the crime of kidnapping for ransom," Kimpo stated in a six-page resolution.

About 10 heavily armed men seized Rosagas, Torres and driver Dionisio Burca Sr. at about 7 a.m. on June 18 last year. The three were eventually freed in Calamba City in Laguna that same night after the Rosagas family allegedly paid P15 million in ransom.

Kimpo noted that the suspects’ alibis were "inherently weak," adding that while they all claimed outside Metro Manila on the day of the kidnapping, they failed to show proof that it was impossible for them to be in the metropolis.

Villaver said he was vacationing in Pasacao, Camarines Norte with his wife and mother-in-law when the kidnapping took place. Kimpo said the suspect forgot a very important detail, but did not elaborate.

Decipulo claimed he was working as driver of Eaglestar Transit Corp. servicing the Leyte-Manila route, but did not say where he was on the day in question.

On the other hand, he said Torres’ evidence was "strong and credible and supported by positive identification."

Police arrested on Thursday in Tanauan City in Batangas the suspected mastermind in the snatching of Rosagas, Cheng and her aunt Connie Wong.

The suspect, identified as Cesar Olympiada, 30, of Barangay Malaking Pulo, Tanauan was cornered during a raid on his hideout by combined elements of the 402nd Batangas Police Mobile Group and the Batangas provincial police.

Olympiada was tagged as the "planner" for the Fajardo-Villaber kidnap group that operates in the Southern Tagalog and Metro Manila.

Olympiada’s group was also believed to be behind the abduction in September last year of businessman Jesus Cabalza, 66, his bodyguard Gilberto Hermano, 35, driver Antonio Bebita, 50, and secretary Regina Casipi. Casipi was later released to relay the kidnappers’ demand for P30-million ransom.

In another incident, Wong and her two escorts, Dionisio Burca Jr. and Angel Barguilla, were kidnapped on Oct. 3, 2001 at the boundary of Valenzuela City and Meycauayan in Bulacan.

The kidnappers later murdered Wong and Burca, while Barquilla was left for dead along Galas street in Barangay Bignay, also in Valenzuela.

Police theorized that both Wong and Rosagas were kidnapped by the same group, the Valencia gang, a faction of the Fajardo-Villaver crime ring.