De Lima insists Burmese boy was kidnapped

MANILA, Philippines - Justice Secretary Leila de Lima contested yesterday the claim of the Philippine National Police Anti-Kidnapping Group (PNP-AKG) that the eight-year-old Burmese boy rescued by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) last Tuesday in Taytay, Rizal was not a victim of a kidnapping syndicate.

De Lima insisted there was a demand for the boy’s release received by his parents from the kidnappers.

“That statement (from police) denying the demand for ransom is really puzzling to me because our information is that there was demand for ransom that was not paid,” she told reporters in an ambush interview.

“There was supposed to be negotiations between the kidnappers and the parents through the (syndicate),” she said.

De Lima said she has information on how much the kidnappers had demanded from the boy’s parents.

“Originally the amount was high until it was dropped after the negotiations. But I don’t want to announce it because I don’t know how true the information is,” she said.

“The negotiations were even confirmed by the parents of the boy,” she added.

Still, De Lima said the NBI would not interfere in the ongoing probe of the PNP.

Based on the report submitted by the NBI’s Counter Terrorism Division, which conducted the rescue operation, the boy was seized while on his way to school in Biñan, Laguna last June 22.

At least three men, armed with M-16 rifles, flagged down the school service carrying the boy and 13 other students, Mendez said.

An NBI source told The STAR that the kidnappers initially asked for P30 million from the boy’s family who, however, was only able to raise about P40,000.

The source said the kidnappers gave the boy’s family until June 28 to pay the ransom.

The insider, however, believes that the kidnappers abandoned the boy after realizing they had preyed on the wrong victim.