Alert maid saves boy from kidnappers

CEBU CITY — Quick thinking by a female helper apparently foiled what could have been an attempt by two men to kidnap her young ward outside the Sacred Heart School for Boys here last Tuesday afternoon.

But police are still trying to confirm the alleged incident and whether it was really a kidnapping attempt or not.

Paul Labra, police investigation and intelligence chief, said neither a formal report nor a formal complaint about the incident has reached his office.

"We are checking it out. It’s hard to say if it was a kidnapping (attempt). As far as I am concerned, it could have been anything," he said.

The alleged target of the kidnappers, a grade school pupil with a Chinese surname, was being fetched by a househelp after classes when the supposed incident took place.

The helper and the boy were walking toward the parked family car when two strangers blocked their path and forced the boy to go with them.

The two men claimed that the boy’s parents had sent them to fetch him. But the helper doubted this because she was responsible for bringing the boy home every afternoon and that if there were any changes, she herself would have been notified.

Besides, the helper could not recall having seen or met the two men before.

Sensing danger, the helper quickly swung the boy out of the way and rushed him to the waiting family car. The two men quickly fled. It was not clear if they, too, had a car.

The boy’s family requested that they remain unidentified in the meantime.

"They are hesitant to cooperate. But the boy’s father said he would call on us by Friday (today)," Labra said.

Cebu City police chief Hiram Benatiro said he received reports about the incident that very afternoon but could not make an immediate confirmation.

Vice Mayor Michael Rama also heard of the reports and reportedly called his office to get more details.

Benatiro assured Cebuanos the police are adopting measures to ensure the safety of students but added that parents should also give priority to their security.

Three weeks ago, another grade schooler, Ryan James Yu, was kidnapped by two motorcycle-riding men on his way to his school in Lahug.

The boy was later found abandoned in a house at BC Homes. Five of the suspected kidnappers were arrested during the bungled ransom payoff at the Davao City airport. — Freeman News Service