Senior Superintendent Ismael Rafanan, provincial police director, identified the kidnapping victims as Rachel Laos Ayala of Corinthian Gardens in Quezon City, Rose Ramirez of San Juan, and Myrna Galang of Nueva Ecija.
Ayala and Ramirez were reportedly on their way to Nepo Mart here to meet a man who was supposed to find them jobs in Italy when they were seized.
Ramirez reportedly owns a recruitment agency, while Galang merely accompanied the two other women to Nepo Mart.
Witnesses told probers that the three women, on board a Mitsubishi Adventure, were intercepted in Barangay Pandan by unidentified men aboard a white Honda Civic and a Mitsubishi L-300.
One of the kidnappers, said to be armed, boarded the women’s car and commandeered it. The three vehicles sped off toward Magalang town.
Investigators said the man whom the victims were supposed to meet at Nepo Mart, claimed the kidnappers contacted and instructed him to broker negotiations for the unspecified ransom. — Ding Cervantes