No. 18 kidnap suspect caught

A barangay chairman who is one of the notorious leaders of a top kidnapping syndicate operating in Metro Manila was arrested by agents of the National Anti-Kidnapping Task Force (NAKTF) in Bulacan last Wednesday.

NAKTF chief Angelo Reyes identified the arrested kidnap gang leader as Pecasiano Tagle, 38, of Bacoor, Cavite.

Tagle is the incumbent chairman of Barangay Maimbong II in Bacoor town.

Reyes said Tagle was positively identified by one of his victims as the man who allegedly led an armed group that abducted her.

Ranked 18th in NAKTF’s most wanted, Tagle carried a P500,000 bounty for his capture.

Tagle did not resist arrest as he was cornered by lawmen at Sitio Pulo in San Miguel, Bulacan, Reyes said.

NAKTF records showed Tagle has a standing warrant for his arrest issued by the Pasay City regional trial court for kidnapping and serious illegal detention on Sept. 23 last year.

Reyes said Tagle was involved in the abduction of Marianne de la Rosa, daughter of a Laguna-based transport magnate, who was snatched by unidentified men on March 27 last year in Biñan town in Laguna.

De la Rosa, whose family owns and operates Dela Rosa Transit, was driving her Honda Civic car on her way to work when she was blocked by Tagle and his group.

Several hours after the abduction, the kidnappers called the De la Rosa family demanding a P15 million ransom. The ransom was lowered to P2.7 million following NAKTF-assisted negotiations.

As arrangements were being made for her release, one of her captors helped her to escape, Reyes said.

"This is another positive development in our campaign to eliminate kidnapping in our country," Reyes declared.

"Most of the top kidnappers on the list have already been captured and are now facing charges. The government will sustain this momentum. We will not stop until all these perpetrators are behind bars," Reyes said.

Tagle was added to the growing list of most wanted kidnappers who have been caught by the law, even as some of the top suspects remain at large.

Still leading the list of the 14 most wanted are the brothers Harold and Roland Fajardo along with former police officer Allan Estrada. Bounties for their capture are at P1 million each.

The other suspects with a P500,000 reward, are Teddy Padre, Neil Cutad, Romeo Puria, Felizardo Pagulayan, Ronnie Tan, More Panday, Ambrudin Macasilang, Ronald Roilan, Joel Bunales, Sergio Pandang, Mario Valerio, and Arnel Suellen.

Padre, ranked 8th on the list of the country’s most wanted kidnappers, was arrested last February while Macasilang reportedly surrendered to the National Bureau of Investigation.

The NAKTF first released the names and pictures of 10 most wanted kidnappers, including Dr. Roberto Obeles Yap, who was killed in an encounter with lawmen in Bataan in November last year.

A total of 128 suspects have been neutralized since NAKTF was created in October last year. Of these, 106 have been captured, nine have surrendered and 13 suspects including Tagle have been "neutralized."