Naga City college coed freed after four days

LEGAZPI CITY — An 18-year-old daughter of a rich Filipino-Chinese family in Naga City was freed by her kidnappers the other day after her parents reportedly paid a P2-million ransom, the regional police said.

The victim, Mary Anne Tan, a college student of the University of Nueva Caceres, showed up at their residence in Concepcion Grande at about 7:20 a.m. Sunday, after four days in captivity, regional police director Marcelo Navarro Jr. said.

Navarro said Tan was dumped on the roadside in Polangui, Albay, and took a passenger bus bound for Naga.

"She was still confused and uncertain of the time and place of her release," he said, adding she could not identify her captors because she was blindfolded during her four-day ordeal.

She was treated well by her abductors, reports said.

Four armed men blocked the van she was driving at about 8:30 p.m. last Feb. 27 along the Maharlika Highway in Naga City. Her captors later informed her family about the incident and demanded a P20-million ransom.

The supposed payoff took place last Friday night at the St. Paul Subdivision in Pili, Camarines Sur, reports said.

This was the second kidnapping in Camarines Sur this year. — Celso Amo, Jaime Laude