FOUR hours after police received the report on their abduction, three Chinese nationals, held for almost 10 days by their captors who are fellow Chinese, were rescued in Lapu-Lapu City Thursday, March 5, 2020.
The Chinese Consular Office coordinated with the police on the rescue after the victims’ families in China sought its help. Secretary Michael Dino of the Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas commended the police for their quick action.
Brothers Xu, 29, and Xiang Qin, 30, of Guangxi region, and Sun Guo Dong, 21, of Sichuan province, were rescued at 2:15 a.m. Thursday in Barangay Mactan by operatives of the Lapu-Lapu City Police Office, Regional Intelligence Division and the Anti-Kidnapping Group (AKG).
Suspects A Gui and Xiao Fan, both Chinese nationals, who were reportedly guarding the three captives, were arrested.
The kidnappers, according to a Chinese consulate official, had demanded 170,000 Chinese yuan or P1.2 million for the release of the three kidnap victims.
The victims and the suspects were believed to be workers of a Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (Pogo), however, police have yet to validate this information.
The incident so alarmed police authorities that even PNP Chief Archie Gamboa, who was at a hospital emergency room receiving treatment after the helicopter he was on board crashed Thursday in Laguna, called Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 Director Albert Ignatius Ferro for an update.
Ferro said the incident was an isolated one although there could have been similar kidnappings that were unreported to the police.
Ferro said the two persons arrested have connections with Chinese syndicates in Manila and it was possible the incident was connected to similar happenings in Manila.
Secretary Dino commended the police for solving the kidnapping incident in just four hours and with all victims unhurt.
Dino said the incident was alarming but the quick action of the police would also show that kidnappings, especially of Chinese nationals, have no place in Cebu.
Dino also urged Immigration officials to conduct a thorough background check on Chinese nationals arriving in Cebu.
If it is true that both the victims and their captors work in Pogos, then the Department of Labor and Employment can help in the investigation, Dino said.
Col. Dexter Rellora, AKG chief, said the victims were abducted last Feb. 26 and were held and tortured in a room of a house in Barangay Mactan. Police recovered handcuffs, a bolo knife, truncheon, five cellular phones, a laptop computer, stun guns and several identification cards.
Lapu-Lapu Police Chief Clarito Baja said that at 10 p.m. of Wednesday, March 4, the Chinese consulate called his office about the kidnapping. Baja immediately coordinated with the AKG. The sketch provided by the Chinese consulate helped in locating the victims, Baja said.
Kidnapping charges will be filed against the suspects on Friday, March 6.