Kidnap-for-ransom gang leader falls in Samar

TACLOBAN CITY — It was the end of the road for suspected kidnap-for-ransom (KFR) gang leader Elpidio Mabunga Jr., who was arrested by intelligence operatives of the Army’s 62nd Infantry Battalion in a safehouse in Calbiga, Samar yesterday morning.

Col. Reynaldo Lanuzo, commanding officer of the 62nd IB based in Calbiga, said they acted on information relayed by the barangay intelligence network and barangay defense group in the village of Polangi on the presence of Mabunga in the community.

The National Anti-Kidnapping Task Force (NAKTF) has tagged Mabunga, a former Army soldier, as the leader of the notorious Waray-Waray kidnap-for-ransom syndicate operating in Metro Manila and Cebu City.

Mabunga’s group was believed responsible for the recent kidnapping for ransom of a Chinese-Filipino doctor.

Records showed that Mabunga had an arrest warrant in Cebu for robbery-holdup with murder.

According to Lanuzo, Mabunga managed to escape during a raid on his group’s safehouse last January, where three of his henchemen were arrested.

The 62nd IB turned Mabunga over to the Calbiga police while waiting for personnel of the Police Crime Emergency Response (PACER) for his proper commitment to the courts and further investigation at the NAKTF central office in Metro Manila.

Lanuzo said an ISAFP (Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines) identification card was found in the possession of Mabunga, who had reportedly introduced himself to Calbiga folk as an Army captain.