I’M talking of the need for the whole country to condemn the gruesome, spine-chilling kidnapping of a young Chinese student last January 20 which has prompted the Department of the Interior and Local Government and the Philippine National Police to pour all their resources to solve the case, of course, with the help of all other government agencies and the citizenry.

For the information of everybody, the kidnappers of the 14-year old student identified only as ‘Andi’ cut the tip of the small finger in the victim’s right hand and sent a horrifying video of the ghastly act to his parents to send a ‘clear and strong message’ that they are ready to kill him if they won’t heed their huge ransom demand.

Calling it grisly, hideous, horrible and horrendous would be really an understatement. I and other friends from the police force who have seen the online video were shocked, many of us shed quite a tear while others bravely tried to hide their emotion. Why? We are all fathers who can’t bear the sight of an innocent child being mutilated by monsters in front of the camera.

The case of ‘Andi’ is reminiscent of the case of John Paul Getty III, the grandson of American oil tycoon John Paul Getty who was once the richest man in the world. The young Getty in 1973 was kidnapped in Rome. The kidnappers demanded a US$17 million ransom for his safe release.

After his grandfather showed reluctance to pay the ransom. The kidnappers sent an envelope to a local newspaper containing a lock of hair and the severed ear of the victim with a note that if their demand is not given within 10 days, they would cut his other ear and other body parts. The young Getty was eventually released but struggled with drug addiction, suffered a stroke that paralyzed him. He died in 2011 at the age of 54.

Much has been said about the ‘Andi kidnapping-for-ransom case’ and the whole world, represented by their embassies in the country, is fully watching the progress of the hunt for the kidnappers and want to go to the bottom of the case, all other facts completely revealed.

For the uninformed, let me tell you that since Day 1 of the kidnapping, agents of the PNP Anti-Kidnapping Group have been working round-the-clock to identify and arrest the men who snatched the Chinese student just outside his school in BGC, Taguig City.

“It’s literally a 24-hour operation over the past 13 days, with our investigation and manhunt teams involved in the massive operation to identify and arrest the kidnappers and their ‘brains,” an official of the Unit told me the other day.

I learned that PNP-AKG teams have been given different assignments: from following-up leads that would help crack the case and digging up their old files and other records including CCTV recordings that would help them establish the identities of the suspects.

“We would like to tell the public that since Day 1 of the kidnapping, our men are out there in the field, looking for solid pieces of evidence and witnesses that would help us solve the dastardly crime,” my friend told me.

“They are working on rotation even on Saturdays and Sundays and past 5 in the afternoon when every employees of all private and public companies and institutions are already preparing to go home,” he added. That means life goes on for the PNP-AKG and their honest and dedicated officers and men are out on a mission: get the kidnappers of ‘Andi’ at all cost.

Both DILG Secretary Jonvic Remulla and PNP chiefGeneral Rommel Marbil are on top of the situation regarding the case and are getting daily briefs on the progress of the PNP-AKG operation, I learned.

Several sources have told me that at least 10 suspects are being tracked down by the PNP-AKG with the support of the National Capital Region Police Office and other PNP units.

Our policemen are out there in the field to really establish reports that the kidnappers used two motor vehicles in abducting the student and their family driver before killing the latter thru strangulation and stab wounds.

I learned that one of the kidnappers’ vehicle was recovered by the police at the scene of the abduction. Found inside the vehicle were some belongings of the kidnappers including a mobile phone which has been subjected to a digital forensic examination as part of the ongoing investigation.

What is also sickening here is that the family driver was found dead inside the black Toyota Alphard he was driving which was abandoned by the kidnappers in a secluded area in San Rafael, Bulacan two Fridays ago

Found inside the van were several police uniforms and cellphone numbers believed to be belonging to some of the suspects who demanded a U $20 million ransom from the victim’s parents.

I also have received the information that the driver was strangled to death and later stabbed repeatedly inside the Alphard owned by the victim’s parents. The killing was believed to have done while the student who was blindfolded was still inside the luxury van, meaning he heard the cries and struggles of a man being slowly killed.

In short, apart from hearing the agony of a man being strangled to death, the child really suffered much greater pain because the kidnappers also sliced a part of his finger while in captivity.

Only humans-turned monsters could do such dastardly act. I won’t dwell anymore on ‘positive developments’ about the hunt for the kidnappers but for many of us, they are no different from POGO-related kidnapping cases during the former Duterte administration.

I have seen countless videos of victims of POGO or casino-related kidnappings in the past wherein the kidnappers tortured their captives-whacking different parts of their bodies with bamboo sticks or iron rods, cutting off parts of their toes and fingers, giving them electric shocks and other forms of physical abuse inside their so-called ‘torture chambers.’

In some cases, female victims were stripped naked and raped in front of cameras. It is also a fact that in almost all these cases, the torture and rape acts were done in front of a video camera. Another fact is that in most cases, the victims are Chinese nationals and their tormentors are Chinese nationals too. In short, it’s a case of ‘Chinese versus Chinese’ in The Philippines.

I just hope and pray that the DILG and the PNP are looking at the same direction in tracking down the suspects in the February 20 kidnapping case. Let us also not forget our ‘unsung heroes’ from the PNP-AKG and other PNP units who are silently working to put an end to this case by hauling to jail the kidnappers and their ‘brains’ and seeing to it that they would all rot in jail.

AUTHOR PROFILE

Alfred P. Dalizon