Kidnapped Chinese kids freed

Three Chinese children who were kidnapped along with the family driver in front of their residence in Manila last year has been finally reunited with their families this week after a year and almost two months in captivity.

An official from the National Anti-Kidnapping Task Force said the children, Jasmin Co Cua, 13, and her younger brother John Christian, 11, "escaped" unhurt from their abductors at around 12:30 p.m. along Casili Road, Barangay Dapdap East in Tagaytay City, near the boundary of People’s Park in the Sky.

The family driver, Benito dela Cruz, also escaped the same day. But sources said the victims may have been released from custody after their family initially paid P5-million ransom last September, just when Cua’s other sibling, Jovy, 12, was released from custody by her abductors at an undisclosed place.

The kidnappers tried to demand millions of pesos in ransom again from the family for the release of Jasmin and John but the family failed to comply, sources added.

A police report from the Southern Tagalog Region Police Office claimed that the children escaped but they failed to give details of the escape.

The police said the "escape" ended the several months of trauma and agony felt by the victims’ parents, Michael and Marissa Cua, as well as their close relatives, who earlier appealed to the authorities for the rescue of the children.

The case was handled by the defunct Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force (PAOCTF) before it was turned over to the NAKTAF which is now headed by Deputy Director General Hermogenes Ebdane Jr.

Authorities believed that the case is the longest running kidnap incident handled by the police next to last May’s Abu Sayyaf kidnap of American couple Martin and Gracia Burnham.

De la Cruz added that they were brought and kept in an airconditioned room where their captors treated them nicely. "They treated us nicely. They gave us food, clothes and other personal necessities but we were always blindfolded to avoid recognizing our captors," the driver was quoted as saying to investigators.

The last safehouse they have been was located in a grassy and foggy area in Tagaytay City. After their "escape," the victims used as a guide the red light coming from the tower of the People’s Park in the Sky until they reached the Tagaytay Highlands.

Police said the victims sough the help of security guards Richard Alcober and Nolasco Almendras, who in turn notified the police. The victims’ family, assisted by the NAKTAF operatives, were informed immediately. Ebdane said follow-up operations are underway.