EDITORIAL - New targets

After targeting members of the Filipino-Chinese community, kidnappers appear to have found another ideal group of victims: Singaporean expatriates. Singaporean businessman Roger Yeo and his wife Ng Yiong Hua have admitted that he was kidnapped in the Philippines and released only after paying ransom. They did not specify the amount, but reports from Singapore said the ransom was the equivalent of more than P8.3 million.

Yeo was snatched by unidentified gunmen on June 1 from his office in Muntinlupa. His wife, who was in Singapore, received a call hours later from the kidnappers, who demanded one million Singapore dollars. After getting in touch with the Singapore Embassy in Manila, she decided to negotiate. The kidnappers agreed to a lesser amount and the payoff was made on June 9. Hours later, Yeo arrived in a taxi. The couple returned to Singapore the next day.

The Philippine National Police said Yeo was the fourth Singaporean expatriate to be kidnapped in the Philippines in just two months. The first three cases were not reported to the police, while Yeo’s wife sought police help but did not report her negotiations for ransom. This may partly explain why the Singaporeans have become the new targets of kidnappers. One reason Filipino-Chinese became favorite victims of kidnappers was that many of them suffered in silence and did not seek police help. Kidnappers were also known to target individuals of whatever nationality who for some reason wanted to keep secret the amount of their earnings or sources of income.

But the PNP also bears part of the blame for this problem. Relatives of kidnap victims are often reluctant to seek police help because they fear that policemen themselves may be involved in the abduction. There are also those who fear that cops may bungle a rescue attempt, resulting in the victim’s death, as in the case of Charlene Sy a few years ago.

There are ways of dispelling this mistrust. One is through a continuing purge of the PNP, with attention given to officers tagged by anti-crime groups as possible crooks. This will address fears that cops may be involved in kidnappings. Another is through solid performance. Not all people are afraid to seek police help against kidnappers. In such cases, the PNP must show that it can do its job well, that victims can be rescued unharmed without payment of ransom, and that they can be protected from reprisals. Gaining public trust will be slow and difficult for the PNP, but it must be done if the government wants to win the fight against kidnappers.