4 Chinese, Pinoys charged with abducting foreigners
The National Bureau of Investigation and the Philippine National Police’s Anti-Kidnapping Group (PNP-AKG) announced on Monday the filing of charges against two Chinese nationals and two Filipinos, who were among those tagged as the six suspected kidnappers of three foreigners last month.
In a statement, the NBI said the victims, identified only as two Chinese and a Korean national, were abducted on May 2 by the suspects who disguised themselves as law enforcement officers.
The six suspects had set up a fake checkpoint near Kaybiang Tunnel in Maragondon, Cavite, to intercept the victims who were on their way to a fishing trip, the NBI added.
According to an earlier statement by the PNP-AKG, the victims were released the next day after they paid ransom to their captors.
The PNP-AKG said its operatives, together with personnel from the Police Regional Office 4A, arrested two of the six suspects on May 4 at a police checkpoint in Bacoor City, Cavite. The pair was identified as Chinese nationals Huang Yuze and Zhao Li Shan.
Authorities were able to recover from them a .45-caliber pistol and a 9mm handgun along with several rounds of ammunition.
The NBI said two Filipino suspects, Jomar Pelayo Ubarde and Danilo Abilong, turned themselves in at the agency’s headquarters in Pasay City on May 26.
Two other suspects remain at large. They were identified as John Nelson Ladrera alias “Master” as well as a certain alias Erick.
Ubarde admitted his participation in the abduction of the three foreign nationals, and pointed to Abilong as the “mastermind behind the scheme.”
Abilong corroborated Ubarde’s statements and said he was promised money in exchange for his cooperation in carrying out the abduction.
The NBI said that Abilong used to be a “protection agent” for one of the victims and had even planted a Global Positioning System tracking device to monitor the movements of his employer.
The Filipinos were taken in by the NBI while the two Chinese remain in the custody of the Bacoor police.
The four suspects face charges of kidnapping, with the two Chinese nationals facing additional complaints of illegal possession of firearms and violation of the country’s immigration laws.
