Recaptured kidnapper gunned down

A notorious kidnapper, who bolted the high-security detention cell at Camp Crame last year, was gunned down by policemen in Davao City last Friday, a day after he was recaptured.

Killed while trying to escape from his police escorts was Abdul Macaumbang, one of the principal suspects in the abduction and murder of Greek ship captain Filippos Orfanos in Ermita, Manila two years ago.

After evading lawmen for almost a year, Macaumbang was arrested by police anti-kidnapping agents at his hiding place at Ecoland Phase IV Subdivision in Davao City on Thursday.

When interrogated by the police, he reportedly volunteered information on the presence of members of a car theft syndicate in the city and offered to help police arrest them.

The following morning, while on their way to the supposed lair of the car thieves in Maa district, Macaumbang managed to break loose and tried to escape. He was shot several times after reportedly ignoring several warning shots.

Macaumbang was formerly detained at the now defunct National Anti-Kidnapping Task Force (NAKTAF) along with Pentagon kidnap gang leader Faisal Marohombsar and another kidnap gang leader, former Marine Rodolfo Patinio.

The trio escaped under the noses of their jail guards on June 19, 2002. Faisal was subsequently killed in Magallanes, Cavite last year. Patinio, on the other hand, got killed along with two of his cohorts in a police raid on their safehouse in General Trias, Cavite on Sept. 18 last year.