‘Kidnappers used texting’

Kidnappers now have a new tool for terror: The short message service (SMS), also known as text messaging, available to all cellular phone users.

The kidnappers of 10-year-old Filipino-Chinese student Gellena Dy got their ransom payment by giving ransom drop instructions to the Dy family through text messages sent to the family members’ cellular phones.

The tragic events that marked Gellena’s kidnapping ended yesterday with the child’s rescue and the burial of the driver who died in her defense.

The Dy family paid ransom for the child’s release from her captors, Gellena’s 48-year-old father, Angel, said. He also said he could not reveal the amount they paid for the child’s freedom because he would rather remain silent than endanger his family anew.

Dy earlier said Gellena’s kidnappers demanded a P20 million ransom, while other sources said the Dy family paid P500,000.

The Dy patriarch admitted that the ransom payment was large enough to force them to borrow money from relatives.

He said they paid the ransom Tuesday at 11:45 a.m. along 5th Avenue in Caloocan City as indicated in the text messages received by the Dy family.

"We never received any phone calls from the kidnappers," Dy said. "They transacted business through text messaging."

"We waited for their instructions," he said. "We were nervous because they did not contact us the next day."

Dy said they received a text message from Gellena’s kidnappers yesterday at 4:30 a.m. instructing them to go to Aurora Boulevard in Quezon City and look for Esteban Abada street, where they would find a parked green Toyota Revo.

"(The kidnappers) said we would get our daughter inside (the vehicle behind) the driver’s seat. They also said that if the doors were locked, we could destroy the windows."

According to him, Gellena’s hands and feet were bound when she was rescued at 5:30 a.m. Her mother took her out of the van.

"At that time, I was so anxious, so I asked for the assistance of the National Anti-Kidnapping Task Force (Naktaf) to back us up," he said.

"She (Gellena) told us she was blindfolded since they kidnapped her and they fed her by their hands," Dy said.

"Our daughter is still recovering from that traumatic experience," he added. "She was a prisoner for 13 days.

"We will not send her to school for this year anymore," Dy added. "(Gellena) will just take her PEP exam so she could advance to Grade 6."

Citizens Action Against Crime (CAAC) president Teresita Ang-See will provide a psychiatrist to help the victim recover, he added.

Meanwhile, the Dy family driver who died defending Gellena was finally laid to rest nine hours after his ward was freed.

Hilario Resposo, 29, was buried at Palanag cemetery in Kabihasnan, Parañaque City at 2:30 p.m. yesterday.

Resposo’s older sister, Aquilina Cadayura, told The STAR the Dy family paid for the driver’s burial expenses.

Cadayura said she and her kin were unable to visit Resposo during his confinement at the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) because they could not afford the cost of boat or plane tickets to Manila from their hometown of Dumaguete.

She said she would ask the Dy family to give financial assistance to Resposo’s two children, both of whom are toddlers.

Malacañang, meanwhile, said it "would not stand in the way" of any ransom payments or negotiations between the families of kidnap victims and kidnappers, though it maintained the government’s policy against such negotiations.

Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye and Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council chairman and President Arroyo’s official campaign spokesman Michael Defensor said this in a press conference at the Palace yesterday.

"Our first concern is, of course, the safety of the victims and this is the call of the families themselves," Bunye said. "They are the ones more concerned and they know what would be in the best interest of the family involved. We will not stand in the way of getting the victims back to safety."

However, Bunye refused to explain the governments "time-tested formula" for rescuing kidnapping victims. This term is also used to connote ransom payments to kidnappers as a means of rescue.

"I would rather leave that to PNP (Philippine National Police) chief (Gen. Hermogenes) Ebdane (Jr.)," Bunye said. "What we know as far as general strategies of government (is that) we have to pursue close coordination of government and communities and law enforcement."

Defensor said the President remains committed to her administration’s policy of not negotiating with kidnappers or terrorists. — With Marichu Villanueva