Marcos orders manhunt for 22 in boy’s kidnap

In an interview, Remulla confirmed that the syndicate leaders include four Chinese nationals.

“We are certain that there are 22 members of the syndicate. Four of them, the leaders of the syndicate are Chinese, 18 of them are their former bodyguards and former henchmen,” he said.

The case has drawn significant attention due to what Remulla called “barbaric” acts of the abductors of cutting the young victim’s pinky finger and sending it to his parents to force them into giving $20 million in ransom for the boy’s release. The boy was rescued unharmed after an intensive 72-hour operation led by the Philippine National Police’s Anti-Kidnapping Group (AKG) and the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO).

Remulla stated that both the victim’s parents and the alleged mastermind were connected to the POGO industry. The mastermind, known for being a notorious POGO operator from 2017 to 2022, was also accused of killing a fellow Chinese national during a violent altercation at a Makati restaurant last year. The kidnapped boy’s family previously held a POGO license.

“He’s still here in the country. We know who he is. We know where he hangs out,” Remulla said. “We are almost certain that we will get him pretty soon.”

The rescue operation was made possible through signal interception and surveillance. The perpetrators, sensing police presence, abandoned the boy, allowing authorities to recover him safely.

Investigations revealed that the driver of the victim’s vehicle, found dead in San Rafael, Bulacan, was allegedly in cahoots with the kidnappers. “According to the contents of the cellphone of the driver, he was in cahoots with the perpetrators of the crime. He was part of the syndicate. He was only employed for one month before the incident happened,” Remulla said.

Remulla admitted that the influx of POGOs brought a culture of lawlessness and extreme behavior. “The culture that the POGO brought to the country was that of extreme perfidy and extreme pathological behavior, that they had no conscience to what they were doing,” he added.

Remulla assured the public that the police are fully equipped and committed to protecting citizens from similar threats. “I just want to tell the public that, please be confident that the PNP is on top of the situation. Our protection, surveillance, and our anti-kidnapping unit are very capable and are more than eager to protect the people from these people,” he said.

Probe on vloggers

While manhunt operations are ongoing against the perpetrators, the PNP has also set its sights on vloggers who allegedly spread fake news about the kidnapping.

Col. Randulf Tuano, PNP public information officer, said the Anti-Cybercrime Group (ACG) is looking into posts of certain vloggers about the boy’s kidnapping.

Some of the vloggers announced that the student’s family paid a ransom of $20 million in exchange for his freedom.

The vloggers also posted information about the kidnapping in their social media accounts while the incident was a live case, unlike most news organizations which refrained from reporting about the case so as not to jeopardize police operations to rescue the victim.

The PNP said former members of the uniformed service were involved in the kidnapping.

Teresita Ang See, chairper[1]son emeritus of the Movement for Restoration of Peace and Order, urged authorities to refrain from disclosing the exact amount of ransom, as doing so would embolden kidnappers to demand bigger ransom from potential victims. The British School Manila is offering counseling for its students distressed by the kidnapping of their schoolmate.

“We understand this news will be unsettling. Our counseling team has been available to support students, as required, today,” part of an undated letter sent by school head Martin van der Linde to stakeholders stated. — Christine Boton, Delon Porcalla, Emmanuel Tupas, EJ Macababbad