Radio station worker’s kidnap a hoax – police

LUCENA CITY, Philippines – It’s a hoax, and Quezon police authorities are enraged over the alarm it has caused among media practitioners.

And Senior Superintendent Dionardo Carlos, Quezon police director, has ordered a probe on what motivated radio station employee Melinda Jennifer Glifonea and her cohorts in staging her “kidnapping” and to file charges against them.

Earlier reports said Glifonea, who works for 103.1FM Edge Radio, was seized by two men while eating in a restaurant after attending the miting de avance of Candelaria mayoral candidate Fernando Boy Bata early last Sunday.

Glifonea was supposedly dragged into a Toyota Innova and her “kidnappers” fled with her toward Tiaong town.

Police set up a dragnet and spotted the car, prompting a chase. The vehicle was later found abandoned in Candelaria, and police later nabbed one Niño Yadan Basiln, who yielded a .45-caliber pistol and two magazines.

At 3:35 p.m. Sunday, Glifonea called Superintendent Francisco Ebreo, Candelaria police chief, to say she had planned her “kidnapping” but refused to surface. – With Ed Amoroso