Elderly woman's bodyguard, driver killed in Cotabato kidnapping

COTABATO CITY, Philippines  – Gunmen kidnapped an elderly woman and killed her bodyguard and her driver in an attack here Friday afternoon, police said yesterday.

The presence of the armed bodyguard failed to deter the kidnapping of the wife of a local businessman, city police chief Senior Superintendent Willie Dangane said.

A car carrying the 73-year-old woman was about to turn into the family driveway when it was cut off by two vehicles, Dangane said.

Two of the gunmen simultaneously approached both sides of the vehicle and smashed its windows with sledgehammers before dragging the woman out.

The armed bodyguard, a former Marine sergeant, put up a fight but was outgunned and killed, along with the family driver, and the woman was taken away, Dangane said.

Responding lawmen later found the getaway vehicles by a riverbank, where witnesses said the kidnappers transferred the woman onto a boat.

Police withheld the identities of the victims pending rescue operations.

The kidnapping came after unidentified gunmen snatched a Chinese-Filipino businessman last August. The trader was released after his family paid ransom.

Residents told The STAR that kidnappings and holdups have increased in the past few weeks, but many of these incidents have not been reported to authorities.

Lawmakers led by Sen. Francis Escudero criticized security forces for failing to use its assets to prevent the kidnapping.

Escudero said he had information that the group behind the kidnapping was the same criminal syndicate behind the spate of kidnappings of wealthy businessmen in Central Mindanao.

“Reports have reached me that residents are once again faced with persistent fears and threats due to this new kidnapping incident. It is a concern shared by residents not only of Cotabato City but also of Mindanao per se because if reports are to be believed (they are) indeed from the Pentagon Group,” he said. – John Unson, Marvin Sy