MANILA, Philippines - A 72-year-old Filipino-Chinese woman and her driver who were kidnapped in Maguindanao last month were released on Wednesday evening after reportedly paying P2 million in ransom, a police official said.
In a text message to reporters, Senior Superintendent Willie Dangane, police director of Cotabato City, said victims Lourdes Tan-Kian and her driver, Bernardo Isidro, were released "unharmed" about at about 9 p.m. in Barangay Taviran, Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao.
"[The] release was allegedly realized after Kian and Tan families gave ransom money in that amount of P2 million to the kidnappers,” Dangane said.
Tan-Kian is the sister former Councilor Manuel Tan. She and her driver were abducted last May 31.
Dangane said they tried to continuously coordinating with the aggrieved families through Manuel, but the former government official refused to cooperate.
"Manuel Tan refused to reveal the identity of the kidnappers and the receiver of the ransom money," Dangane said.
The police official also said that the Tan-Kian families refused to submit Mrs. Kian for debriefing because she was still undergoing medical attention.
The debriefing for her driver was also rescheduled as he was also undergoing medical examination, he said. - Aie See Balagtas, GMANews.TV
MANILA, Philippines - Law enforcement authorities in Cotabato City on Thursday arrested a foreigner believed to be behind the setting up of several shabu laboratories across the country, a police official said.
Cotabato City Police chief Senior Superintendent Willie Dangane identified the suspect as Peter Chou, a Chinese who he described as “one of the most elusive chemists in the whole world."
“He has already established three laboratories in Quezon City and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency has been searching for him for more than two months now," Dangane said.
Chou was arrested 9:30 a.m. during a raid on an alleged shabu laboratory in Barangay Mother Rosary Heights. Seized from the laboratory were more than 100 grams of shabu and other drug paraphernalia.
“The amount of the shabu found in the laboratory is roughly more than a million pesos," he said.
Dangane said the raid and arrest were done in coordination with PDEA agents led by its Special Enforcement Service chief Major Ferdinand Marcelino, who flew to Cotabato City upon receiving information that Chou was there.
Follow-up operations are currently being conducted to arrest the other people who helped Chou in setting up and maintaining the shabu laboratory. - GMANews.TV
TWO suspects in the killing of an executive of the Philippine National Red Cross in Cotabato City over the weekend have been arrested by the police.
Senior Supt. Leonardo Espina, National Police spokesman, said Nondo Mokamad was arrested on Tuesday by members of a task group headed by Senior Supt. Willie Dangane, Cotabato City police chief, at barangay New Isabela, Tacurong City, Sultan Kudarat.
Espina said members of the same task force earlier captured Michael Usi at barangay Patadon, Kidapawan City, North Cotabato.
Mokamad and Usi are allegedly among the assailants who shot Red Cross executive Bai Aleta Sinsuat on June 6 in Cotabato City.
Sen. Richard Gordon, Red Cross chairman, commended the police for its swift action that led to the arrest of the two suspects.
Gordon described Sinsuat as a Red Cross official who was “most generous of her time and talent in helping people in need in her community.”
In his report to the National Police chief, Director General Jesus Verzosa, Chief Supt. Josefino Cataluña, Central Mindanao police commander, said Mukamad admitted shooting Sinsuat with a single shot of a 5.56-mm homemade pistol.
Cataluña said investigation revealed Sinsuat resisted when the suspects grabbed her bag in front of Mega Market on Doña Martinez Street, Mother Poblacion, Cotabato City.
Sinsuat, 67, is a member of the Red Cross board of trustees in Maguindanao and Cotabato City.
Espina said murder charges were filed on Tuesday against Usi, Mukamad and another suspect, Junabi Kalim, before the Cotabato City Prosecutor’s Office.
Verzosa ordered Cataluña to deploy tracker teams to arrest two other suspects who remain at large.
