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Saturday, September 27, 2003
Relatives of kidnap victims shun cops
By Bong Sarmiento
KORONADAL CITY -- Relatives of three security men taken hostage by suspected Pentagon members last week in Sultan Kudarat are shunning police assistance allegedly upon advice from the suspects.
Sultan Kudarat police director Bonfilo Dacoco said Thursday the families of the kidnap victims -- Rey Escanlar, Hernani Panes and Datu Galvez -- have not been coordinating with authorities for fear the suspects would harm the hostages.
Dacoco said the kidnappers have already established contact with a certain Nonoy, a relative of Filipino-American Michael Escanlar, the original target of the kidnappers who escaped. The three hostages are bodyguards of Escanlar.
Citing information from police assets, Dacoco said Rey Escanlar reportedly called Nonoy using a cellular phone to relay the ransom demand of their captors.
The kidnap victim allegedly told Nonoy that the suspects want to keep the police and the military out of the negotiations for the safety of the victims.
Dacoco also confirmed the ransom demand of the kidnappers earlier reported by Brig. Gen. Agustin Dema-ala.
Dacoco, who urged the victims' families to follow the no-ransom policy of the government, claimed the kidnappers are demanding a P60-million payoff -- P10 million more than Dema-ala's earlier claim.
The police official disclosed that they learned Escanlar gambled and won millions of dollars in a previous National Basketball Association (NBA) championship match. Escanlar was also earlier reported to have won a lottery draw in the United States.
Escanlar, who is reportedly a former member of the US Navy, escaped the kidnap attempt last week at his cock farm in Kalawag I, Isulan, Sultan Kudarat.
But the heavily armed suspects took his three bodyguards when they failed to react immediately.
Escanlar is now believed to have fled Isulan following the foiled kidnapping attempt.
(September 26, 2003 issue)
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