Student escapes Taft Avenue kidnap try

MANILA, Philippines - A 16-year-old student from an exclusive girls’ school escaped unharmed from two men who tried to kidnap her as she was waiting for a ride along Taft Avenue Thursday afternoon in Ermita, Manila.

Accompanied by her aunt-guardian, the girl – a first year Bachelor of Music student from Sta. Isabel College – told police she was waiting for a jeepney ride at past 3 p.m. when two men suddenly grabbed her hands and tried to drag her away.

“Wag kang maingay. Sumama ka sa amin (Don’t make any noise. Go with us),” the girl quoted one of the men as saying.  

Despite her fear, the girl said she managed to free herself from the grasp of the kidnappers and ran away. The girl said she dropped her cellular phone and school bag, but the men threw her belongings at her.

The girl described one of her would-be abductors as between 30 and 40 years old, at least six feet tall, and heavily built. However, she failed to notice if the suspects were using a vehicle.

The girl’s aunt deplored the absence of policemen in the area to protect the students. “These men could be successful in abducting girls the next time they attack since there were no policemen in the area,” the aunt told The STAR.

She said her son was also robbed in broad daylight after he got out of Adamson University on Taft Avenue a month ago.

Last week, a National Bureau of Investigation employee was robbed by men in a car while she was waiting for a ride along Taft Avenue.

Ermita police station chief Superintendent Frumencio Bernal ordered more roving policemen deployed along Taft Avenue, especially near schools and universities, as a result of muggings in the area.