Tsinoy boy, 2, snatched in Munti

In less than three weeks, kidnap-for-ransom gangs struck anew and snatched a two-year-old son of a Chinese-Filipino businessman along the South Luzon Expressway in Muntinlupa City yesterday morning.

Police said five heavily armed men blocked the car of the victim while on his way to school with his driver and nanny.

The kidnappers, all armed with M-16 rifles and automatic pistols, took the child at gunpoint and herded him into a gray Isuzu Crosswind van with license plates MEX-326.

Witnesses said the kidnappers, who wore black bonnets over their heads and clad in black jackets, blocked the path of the victim’s car, a red Honda CRV van with license plates 16-D 69, near the Susana Heights tollbooth of the South Luzon tollway.

Initial reports also said a witness saw one of the kidnappers firing at the rear window of the van before the others snatched the child inside the vehicle.

Probers led by Chief Inspector Edgar Ferrater of the Muntinlupa police said they have invited the driver, Emilio Coste, for questioning.

"We are looking at every possible angle. We invited him (Coste) and he’s been cooperative so far," Ferrater said.

Coste claimed he would rather give up his life rather than surrender the victim. He said he had been working as a family driver for his employer for almost 30 years.

Ferrater, however, said there are some inconsistencies in Coste’s narration of the incident.

Ferrater said they will consider the incident as a simple abduction.

"We have yet to wait for confirmation before we consider this case as kidnap. So far, we still consider this as abduction," he said.

Police investigators claimed the victim’s family, who owns and operates a huge glass factory in the city, refused to cooperate with the investigation.

They said a police forensics team were not even allowed to inspect the bullet-riddled Honda van.

Ferrater told reporters the incident was the first to be recorded in the city this year.

He made the statement in the heels of the "three strike" policy announcement made by President Arroyo to keep police authorities on their toes against kidnapping and illegal drugs activities in their areas of jurisdiction.

The latest kidnapping incident dampened anew government efforts to lick the problem, which some observers said will likely increase as election period approaches.

The Muntinlupa kidnapping came barely three weeks after the government scored heavily in its anti-kidnapping campaign with the killing of Roberto Yap, a top kidnap-for-ransom gang leader, and three of his cohorts in Bataan.

On Nov. 18, the body of kidnapped local Coca-Cola Export Corp. finance manager Betti Sy was found stuffed in a trash bag near the sea front along Diosdado Macapagal Boulevard in Parañaque City.

Sy was abducted by heavily armed men while on her way to work in Quezon City.

Three days later, armed men abducted a 10-year old schoolgirl after shooting her nanny and driver in Paco, Manila.

As this developed, Central Police District (CPD) director Chief Superintendent Napoleon Castro ordered the deployment of two police units whose only task is to intensify the government’s anti-kidnapping drive and the campaign against drug trafficking.

At the same time, Castro denied reports tagging Quezon City as the kidnap capital of the country.

He pointed out that for this year the CPD recorded one kidnapping case, that of Sy.

"The Betti Sy case was not even treated as a kidnapping incident initially but was simply a shooting incident because the relatives would not cooperate," Castro said.

Castro explained there are certain situations when the family or relatives of the victim would not admit to authorities that a kidnapping took place.

"The Quezon City police force could not watch every household in the city considering the lack of personnel. We would not know of kidnapping incidence unless they are reported to us by the relatives or family of the victims," he said.

"So we encourage the victim’s relatives and family to report to us, let us know so we could respond appropriately, and cooperate with us so we could rescue (the victim) and resolve the case," Castro added. - With Katherine Adraneda