MANILA, Philippines - Senator Francis Escudero scored yesterday the military and police forces in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) for its failure to stop another kidnapping incident that left two people killed in Cotabato City on Friday.
Escudero, chairman of the Senate committee on national defense and security, said the apparent poor police and military intelligence work to monitor the activities of different lawless elements has allowed these criminal groups to strike and sow terror among local residents.
“Reports have reached me that residents are once again faced with persistent fears and threats due to this new kidnapping incident. It is a concern shared by residents not only of Cotabato City but also of Mindanao per se, because if reports are to be believed that the perpetrators are indeed from the Pentagon group, then we can also surmise that they have reactivated to pounce on their unsuspecting targets. Such would again cause local traders and residents sleepless nights, fearing for their own safety,” Escudero said.
Escudero is condemning the kidnapping of a businesswoman who was abducted near her house in Barangay Rosary Heights. Six suspected members of the Pentagon Gang, a Mindanao-based criminal group known for kidnapping wealthy locals, was tagged as responsible for the incident.
Reports said that the victim’s bodyguard tried to foil the kidnapping but was shot and killed along with the driver.
The senator urged the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines to step up their visibility in the area and improve their intelligence gathering to counter insurgency and banditry.