ZAMBOANGA CITY , Philippines – Unidentified armed men snatched a couple engaged in the buying and selling of marine products in a coastal village here shortly after midnight yesterday, authorities said.
The victims, Nancy Lucero-Gonato, 38, and her live-in partner, Ronnie San Dagon, 50, were seized by at least five men at the Taha private wharf in Barangay Baliwasan Seaside, said Senior Superintendent Edwin de Ocampo, city police chief.
De Ocampo said the kidnappers dragged the couple to a motorized pump boat and then fled westward.
He said investigators were looking at business rivalry as possible motive, as the couple just started their business last November.
De Ocampo added though that the couple could have been snatched for ransom or their personal relationship could be involved, as San Dagon is married.