Driver of kidnap victim dies at PGH

The driver of a 10-year-old schoolgirl who was kidnapped last Friday in broad daylight in Paco, Manila, died yesterday in the hospital.

Hilario Resposo, who was in critical condition since the incident, died from a gunshot wound in the neck, doctors said. He died at the intensive care unit of the Philippine General Hospital at around 1:45 p.m.

Resposo was shot when he refused to let go of the girl. The bullet exited his right cheek.

Meanwhile, the girl’s nanny, Maricel de Dios, is in stable condition, doctors said.

De Dios is confined in the same hospital. She took a bullet in the back when she held on to the child to protect her.

Three men and a woman wearing bonnets staged the brazen abduction, just in front of the child’s school, St. Peter the Apostle Parish School on President Quirino Avenue Extension in Paco.

The kidnappers pounced when Resposo slowed down as he reached the school gate. They fired their pistols and automatic rifle in the air, forcing passersby to scamper for safety.

The kidnappers grabbed the girl but Resposo held on to her and was shot. De Dios was also shot for trying to protect her ward.

Investigators said it was the woman who shot both Resposo and De Dios.

Western Police District director Chief Superintendent Pedro Bulaong said the family refused to cooperate with the authorities, making it hard for them to track down the suspects.

Bulaong doubts the kidnappers were after ransom. Citing past cases, he said kidnappers often try to avoid attention.

More policemen have been deployed in Manila’s Binondo district, the country’s Filipino-Chinese enclave, Bulaong said.

For the past few years Chinese-Filipinos, who are perceived to be wealthier and less likely to go to the police for help, have been the usual target of kidnap gangs.

The resurgence of kidnappings has outraged the influential Filipino-Chinese community, which has threatened not to support President Arroyo’s 2004 presidential bid if she does not lift a moratorium on executions.

Mrs. Arroyo, however, said capital punishment would not deter crime.

She indefinitely suspended executions last year when Congress began debates on whether or not to abolish capital punishment.

The Philippines has been suffering from an image of being unsafe to tourists and investors due to a rash of kidnapping-for-ransom cases and drug-related crimes.

Meanwhile, two suspected kidnappers were arrested last Saturday after a brief gunbattle with police in Caloocan City, police reported yesterday.

Superintendent Dionisio Borromeo said Redily Ibus, a former army soldier, was also wanted for robbery, illegal possession of firearms and attempted homicide.

His accomplice, Rey Apura, was wounded. — With Jerry Botial