GMA declares kidnapping ‘virtually eliminated’

Claiming her administration has "virtually eliminated" the lucrative trade of kidnapping-for-ransom, President Arroyo officially disbanded yesterday the National Anti-Kidnapping Task Force (NAKTF).

"We’re on our way to stem the recurrent tide of kidnapping in Metro Manila and nearby provinces," she said. "But our battle does not end with the arrest or surrender of notorious kidnappers or the rescue of a kidnap victim. These are for naught unless kidnap victims come out and stand up to pursue the criminal cases in court so we can put the culprits permanently behind bars."

The President noted that there have been "no live kidnapping" case to date after law enforcers led by NAKTF caught Alexander Aldas, one of the country’s most wanted kidnappers, last July 23 in Barangay Layon, Ligao City in Albay.

Aldas, who has a P1-million bounty on his head, has been implicated in the abduction and murder of Coca-Cola executive Betty Chua Sy in November last year.

Police said a total of 13 suspects have been held in previous months in relation to the Sy case, pending at the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 76. Nine more are believed to be at large.

Ranked fifth in the Philippine National Police (PNP) list of the most wanted kidnap-for-ransom criminals, Aldas is one of the leaders of the Waray-Waray kidnap gang, blamed for at least 10 high-profile kidnappings in Manila and nearby provinces.

NAKTF chief Angelo Reyes presented a handcuffed Aldas to Mrs. Arroyo and the task force’s board of advisers, which included Citizens Action Against Crime spokeswoman Teresita Ang-See, the aunt of the late Coca-Cola executive, and businessman Miguel Varela, who is also the commissioner of the PNP Reform Commission.

The President said she will turn NAKTF into a General Anti-Crime Task Force, to be headed by PNP chief Director General Hermogenes Ebdane Jr., upon the recommendation of the NAKTF’s board of advisers.

There have been rumors that Ebdane, reportedly set to retire earlier than his scheduled retirement date in December, was to be appointed by Mrs. Arroyo to a Cabinet post, possibly at the Department of Public Works and Highways.

The presence of Ebdane’s deputy, Gen. Virtus Gil, in the presentation of Aldas to the President and the media fueled talk that Gil will be the next PNP chief.

Mrs. Arroyo said aside from NAKTF, other groups that contributed to Aldas’ capture include the PNP’s Police Anti-Crime Emergency Response; PNP Region V, represented by Gil; the PNP Intelligence Group; and the Armed Forces’ Anti-Kidnapping Task Force.

Since she formed NAKTF in October last year, the task force has accounted for 118 kidnap gang leaders and members, including 12 on the PNP’s list of most wanted kidnappers. Of this total, 96 were caught and nine surrendered.

"It’s been non-stop action for NAKTF in pursuing (kidnap- for-ransom) elements for the last nine months. Law enforcement never sleeps. This must be the rule in all our task forces and regular police units," the President said.

However, she instructed law enforcers, led by Reyes, to make sure the arrests of kidnap-for-ransom suspects will lead to their successful conviction in court.

"I’d like to congratulate NAKTF because they have not concentrated on arrest, they have also been following up the cases, and we have just in the past few weeks two convictions for kidnapping," Mrs. Arroyo said.

"(The) criminal justice system must take its course to the fullest, all the way up to conviction. For the economy to flourish and for reforms to take place, we want a society built on discipline and the right values to start in a criminal justice system in its capability to bring the lawless to justice."

The President said that Aldas’ capture was brought about by a tip from a concerned citizen who recognized his photo in the televised NAKTF infomercials.

"We’ve come a long way in combining media with the bounty system to catch notorious criminals. I ask all other law enforcement groups to follow suit. Anyway, they are all now under Reyes, I guess they will follow suit," she said.

Mrs. Arroyo appointed Reyes to the helm of the Department of the Interior and Local Government last July 6 following the resignation of Jose Lina Jr.

Kidnapping for ransom remains a huge problem in the Philippines. Armed Muslim militants in the south, among them the Abu Sayyaf guerrillas allegedly linked to the al-Qaeda terror network, often stage kidnapping raids, including on nearby Malaysian resorts. — With AFP