PNP hits Barbers on kidnap story

BAUAN, Batangas – Was it a botched kidnap attempt or a simple case of road rage?

Amid conflicting reports, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) will investigate the alleged attempt to kidnap Philippine Tourism Authority general manager Robert Dean Barbers.

Barbers said Saturday that at least five armed men – two of them policemen and another one a member of the Air Force – allegedly tried but failed to kidnap him in Barangay Maghinao when a local journalist intervened during the commotion.

However, the Region 4 and Batangas police believe otherwise.

In separate successive interviews over radio station dzMM, Barbers and Region 4 police director Chief Superintendent Nicasio Radovan stood their ground but agreed to have an independent investigation conducted by the NBI and CIDG.

Radovan, citing reports from the Batangas police, insisted that prior to the alleged kidnapping, a road altercation occurred between Barbers and the group of Airman 2nd Class Nino Virtusio, his brother Noel Virtusio, a member of the Barangay Intelligence Network of Batangas and two others at Barangay Lalayat in San Jose town at around 11 a.m.

Nino Virtusio, in a blotter report at the San Jose police station, claimed he was on board his Ford Laser when Barbers alighted from his Ford Explorer SUV and punched the back of his head.

Radovan, quoting Virtusio, said Barbers brandished a pistol, introduced himself as a police officer, and attacked Virtusio when he could not overtake Virtusio’s vehicle.

After the incident, Barbers allegedly boarded his vehicle and sped towards Bauan town, but was chased by Virtusio’s relatives – including Police Officer 1 Jun Virtusio – aboard a Mitsubishi Adventure.

Barbers, together with his wife Katrina and their three daughters, were headed for a beach resort in Mabini town when Virtusio’s group caught up with them and blocked their path along the national highway here.

"With all the available witnesses and evidence, I’m not convinced (by) the kidnapping theory, as Secretary Barbers claims," Radovan said during the interview.

He said the incident did not "fit the description of a true kidnapping" modus operandi, adding that the suspects were not even wearing ski masks when the incident occurred.

Radovan said the Batangas police had recorded an alarm report on Barbers’ vehicle after the brief skirmish in San Jose.

San Jose police chief Superintendent Ricardo Contreras also downplayed Barbers’ claim, citing the sworn statements of two witnesses, bystander Pedro Punio and barangay councilman Armando Asi, who supported Virtusio’s story.

"If that were a kidnapping, he should have been taken in San Jose," Contreras said.

He also denied Barbers’ allegations that a daylight kidnapping syndicate operated in his area, as well as in Bauan and San Pascual.

Barbers had claimed that the syndicate preys on wealthy families and releases the hostage the same day once the ransom is paid.

"There are no such syndicates in our area. I don’t know from which intelligence group Secretary Barbers received his information," Contreras told The STAR.

Barbers, in his initial complaint filed with the Bauan police station, said Virtusio’s group tried to snatch him in San Jose, where he was first waylaid, but he escaped and sped towards Bauan.

He alleged that another group of armed men aboard the Mitsubishi Adventure blocked their path and tried to snatch him again until journalist Ben Aclan scared off the suspects when he started taking video footage of the incident using his cell phone.

During the radio interview, Barbers insisted on his claim and said "the video and still pictures will speak" for themselves.

Asked to comment on the police downplaying his claims that there had been attempts to kidnap him, Barbers said he was disappointed with Radovan’s statements.

Barbers also denied hitting Nino Virtusio and brandishing his gun during the altercation.

He claimed he usually receives death threats through text messages and he connected the alleged foiled kidnapping as part of a plot to assassinate him.

Police arrested PO1 Jun Virtusio and civilian Gerry Mendoza. They are in the custody of the Bauan police and now face charges of illegal possession of firearms and violating the election gun ban filed with the Batangas City prosecutor’s office under Provincial Prosecutor Juanito Lat.

The STAR tried to reach the two men for comment, but they refused and referred queries to their lawyers, who were not immediately available.

However, Superintendent Ferdinand de Castro, who is handling the case, said they are set to file charges of grave threats and attempted kidnapping against Airman 2nd Class Nino Virtusio and Noel Virtusio pending the formal filing of Barbers’ complaint today.

"While charges of kidnapping have not been filed against the suspects, we will file charges of illegal possession so we won’t be charged with their illegal detention," De Castro said.

In a statement he issued yesterday, Barbers accused Radovan of trying to muddle the case and blame him for the incident, and called on the latter to "stop issuing statements and wait for the conclusion of the investigation."

He also expressed his gratitude to Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez for instructing the NBI to conduct a thorough investigation of the incident within 10 days.  

Barbers said despite the manhunt ordered by Philippine National Police chief Director General Oscar Calderon to capture the alleged perpetrators, attempts to muddle the issue and put the blame on him "have sprouted like mushrooms in various media."

He said alleged witnesses have also surfaced coming from different parts of Batangas laying claim to the traffic altercation story pointing to him as the aggressor instead of the victim despite the video coverage broadcast over national television networks, showing armed gunmen surrounding the Ford Explorer bearing him, his wife and their children, only to run away when mediamen led by Aclan started documenting the incident.

On the other hand, Surigao del Norte Rep. Robert Ace Barbers asked the police and the military yesterday to investigate the alleged involvement of their men in the kidnap attempt on his younger brother.

In separate letters to Calderon and Armed Forces chief of staff Gen. Hermogenes Esperon, Barbers said the involvement of men in uniform in kidnapping and other illegal activities should not be tolerated.

"These activities are simply intolerable because criminality is being perpetrated by those we trust to keep the peace and enforce the laws of the land. What makes these heinous is that they are targeting public officials and have reckless regard for women and children," he said.

Barbers said Calderon and Esperon should send investigators to Batangas in the wake of the claim of local police officials and the suspects’ families that the incident was just a simple traffic

altercation.

Barbers said aside from attempted kidnapping, the suspects should be charged for violating the election-related gun ban since they were carrying guns while in civilian clothes. – with Helen Flores and Jess Diaz