4 nabbed for kidnapping toddler

Police arrested the other day four suspects in the kidnapping of a two-year-old boy in Novaliches, Quezon City last week.

Senior Superintendent Leonardo Espina, chief of the Police Anti-Crime and Emergency Response (PACER), identified the suspects as Cesar Amisola, Fersian Estigoy, Joel Dampil, and Alvin Narag.

They were nabbed last Wednesday in separate operations in Barangay Bonifacio, Diffun, in Quirino province; Biñan, Laguna; and in Muntinlupa City.

PACER agents said that at about 3:30 p.m. last Jan. 12, the grandmother of the victim received a phone call from an unidentified person informing her that her grandchild and caretaker Amisola were in their custody and demanded P200,000 for their release.

Police said the caller threatened to kill the boy and told her not to report the incident to authorities.

After a series of negotiations, the kidnappers released the boy in a fastfood chain at a mall in Ayala Alabang.

Shortly after the child was freed, PACER agents tracked down and arrested Amisola and Estigoy, who both admitted participation in the kidnapping.

During interrogation, Amisola confessed that he took the boy while his family was attending to their small eatery. Amisola and Estigoy later implicated Dampil and Narag.

Police gathered that Dampil, the group’s alleged mastermind, is a former guard of the National Bilibid Prison, while Narag acted as the caretaker of the boy at a safehouse in Muntinlupa City.

Recovered from the suspects were several cell phones, cash, and pawnshop receipts.

Espina said Amisola was convicted of kidnapping in 2004. He acted as the abductor and tipster of a kidnap group. Estigoy hid Amisola during the negotiations.

The suspects are detained at the PACER office for preliminary investigation by Department of Justice prosecutors.

Philippine National Police chief Director General Jesus Verzosa commended PACER agents and operatives from Region 2 under Chief Superintendent Roberto Damian for the arrest of the suspects and the safe rescue of the child.