PHILIPPINE National Police Anti-Kidnapping Group (PNP-AKG) Director Brigadier General Rudolph B. Dimas on Tuesday announced the safe rescue of two kidnapped Asian nationals and the arrest of their two Chinese abductors during an operation in Pampanga.

In a report to PNP Officer-in-Change (PNP-OIC) Lieutenant General Vicente D. Danao Jr., the official identified the rescued kidnapping-for-ransom victims as Vietnamese national Vo Nguyen Huyen Chau and Chinese national Li Jin Le.

Brig. Gen. Dimas said their investigation showed that the Vietnamese were seized by the suspects in the vicinity of the PBCom Building in Makati City last May 11.

Two days later, the incident was reported to the PNP-AKG headquarters in Camp Crame, triggering the anti-kidnapping operation.

Brig. Gen. Dimas said they later monitored that the victim’s family deposited the P600,000 ransom demanded by the kidnappers to one of their accounts at the Fontana Casino in Clark Pampanga.

After withdrawing the money, the kidnappers freed the victim in front of Jollibee Friendship Plaza in Angeles City where she was recovered by PNP-AKG officers.

Dimas said that during a debriefing, the victim revealed that before her release at the Friendship Plaza, an unidentified Filipino driver brought her to the said place using a red Toyota Vios with plate number S1 L901.

She also stated that she was brought to the 6th floor of Clark Majestic World, Pampanga.

Acting on the information, PNP-AKG operating teams and the victim proceeded to Clark Majestic World in Pampanga and coordinated with the security guards, who revealed that the said vehicle had just entered the compound based on their logbook.

While the teams were looking for the car used by the kidnappers, three Chinese-looking individuals were seen going out of the building, and officers noticed that one of them was in handcuffs.

When the operating elements confronted the group, the two suspects immediately tried to escape on foot but were immediately subdued by the operating team.

The man in handcuffs was later identified as Li Jin Le. He turned out to be a victim of an unreported casino-related kidnapping.

Brig. Gen. Dimas identified the arrested suspects as Huang Jun, 26, and Lu Zhulin, 22.

Both are residents of Clark Majestic World, located at the French Balagtas Highway in Mabalacat, Pampanga.

Assistant Senior State Prosecutor Honey Rose E. Delgado conducted an inquest proceeding for the two arrested suspects last Monday at the Department of Justice (DOJ).

The suspects are now facing non-bailable charges for kidnapping and serious illegal detention and are being held at the PNP-AKG lock-up facility. By Alfred Dalizon