Kidnappers free 10-year-old boy after 3 months in captivity

ZAMBOANGA CITY , Philippines  – Kidnappers freed Sunday a 10-year-old boy they held captive for almost three months and gave him P1,000 as fare to go home alone, after his release from an undisclosed place in Central Mindanao. 

Director Felicisimo Khu, chief of the Directorate for Integrated Police Operation (DIPO) for Western Mindanao said Ceekim Gomonit, 10, was blindfolded when he was released at 8 a.m. Sunday and gave him P1,000 for his fare to go home.

Khu said Gomonit, arrived in Cotabato City about 9:30 a.m. on board an Armak jeep.

He said the victim later boarded a passenger van bound for Pagadian City and arrived home about 2:30 p.m. on the same day, tired and haggard and got reunited with his family. 

It was not immediately known if the family paid ransom in exchange for the release of the boy with reports earlier revealing the kidnappers demanded P30 million for his release. 

Gomonit was abducted on Oct. 30 last year along with his 60-year-old grandmother Nenita Babeth Gomonit from their residents in Pagadian City. However, the elder Gomonit died while in captivity last December. 

The remains of Mrs. Gomonit was recovered buried in a shallow grave in Sultan Naga Dimaporo town on Dec. 16.

Khu immediately directed the Cotabato police to conduct investigation at the Cotabato City terminal to track down the possible identity of those who might have escorted the boy in sending him home. 

Khu also directed the provincial police office in Zamboanga del Sur to conduct debriefing on the victim to extract possible vital information on the young victim’s case and the kidnappers.