Suspected Reds seize trader, son

CAMP OLIVAS, Pampanga — Four suspected New People’s Army (NPA) rebels wearing ski masks and black shirts abducted a 75-year-old businesswoman and her son in Botolan, Zambales the other day, police said.

Senior Superintendent Alazard Subong, Zambales police director, said Judith Afable and her son Isidro, 40, were sleeping in their resthouse in Barangay Beneg, Botolan town when the armed men barged in.

The suspected rebels fired successive shots into the air and tied up the Afables’ driver and caretaker, and then dragged mother and son to their Toyota Corolla.

The armed men also took off with the Afables’ two cellular phones and P75,000 cash.

Police found three empty caliber .45 shells in the resthouse.

Afable’s elder son Alexander has sought police assistance, quoting a police officer as telling him that the Toyota Corolla was found in a remote area in Barangay Beneg with the bodies of his mother and brother. — Ric Sapnu