Charges filed vs 10 in retired cop’s kidnapping

CABANATUAN CITY — Police have charged with the provincial prosecutor’s office 10 suspects in last week’s abduction of a retired police sergeant in Sto. Domingo, Nueva Ecija.

Senior Superintendent Alex Paul Monteagudo, provincial police director, said the complaint was lodged against one Boyet Andres of Sta. Clara, Cuyapo town and nine of his accomplices.

The Department of Justice will conduct the preliminary investigation preparatory to the filing of formal charges in court.

The suspects were tagged in last Thursday’s abduction of retired SPO3 Esteban Bravo, 56, a former intelligence officer of the Central Luzon police command based at Camp Olivas in Pampanga.

Bravo was tending his onion farm in Sitio Saranay, Baloc when he was seized by heavily armed men last Thursday morning.

His abductors dragged him to a waiting van which they abandoned in the Science City of Muñoz. They then boarded a white car that sped off toward Guimba town.

Monteagudo said they have yet to establish the motive behind the kidnapping.

He said several witnesses positively identified Andres as the one behind the abduction.

The kidnappers were clad in military uniforms and armed with M-16 rifles, although there were no indications that they are either communist rebels or military men.

The Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), to which Bravo once belonged, has joined the investigation, Monteagudo said.

He said Bravo’s family has refused to cooperate with the police.

"Pinahihirapan nila kami (They are making it difficult for us)," he said. "Sariling kayod ang ginagawa namin (We’re on our own in this case)."

Senior Inspector Gregorio de Leon, Sto. Domingo police chief, said Andres has gone into hiding. He was nowhere to be found when De Leon’s men raided his hideout in Cuyapo last Thursday.