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Tuesday, September 8, 2015

2 kidnapped teenagers in Iligan freed

ILIGAN CITY -- Abductors freed Thursday dawn two of the four teenagers they kidnapped earlier at C-3 diversion road in Barangay Sta. Elena here on Thursday dawn.
Iligan Police Director Orlando Beñas told Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro by phone Thursday morning that kidnap victims Rafael Lat and his girlfriend Elle Marie Francis Deleste, both 18 years old, were reunited with their families after their release at Sta. Elena.
Beñas said that Lat and Deleste did not wait for the police and their parents. "Soon as they were released, they took the 'habal-habal' (motorcycle for hire) to their residence."
Beñas and his team who secured the Deleste family confirmed the latter paid P100,000 on Wednesday, but a military official who asked not to be named said that both families paid P100,000 each for their children’s safe release.
“We wanted to talk with Lat and Deleste but their parents didn’t allow it since they’ve been asked to rest considering the ordeal they went through since the day they were abducted and put under the care of Maranao women in a hinterland area in Lanao del Norte,” he said.
Beñas named the two other remaining captives: Ehfrus Fernandez and Ken Garciano.
The four teenagers are close buddies who usually hang out together to have fun with their skateboards during their leisure time, one of the parents told Beñas.
The Philippine National Police (PNP), with its Anti-Kidnapping Group (AKG), the Iligan City Government crisis management committee, 2nd Mechanized Infantry Brigade and the 4th Mechanized Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army, PNP Lanao del Norte and the local government units of Pantar and Tagoloan towns of Lanao del Norte are working together for the release of the remaining captives, Fernandez and Garciano, who are believed kept in the tri-border of Tagoloan, Pantar towns in Lanao del Norte and Kapai town in Lanao del Sur.
Colonel Gilbert I. Gapay, commanding officer of the 2nd Mechanized IB, said the military and police are conducting checkpoints in some exit areas to prevent the abductors in bringing the remaining captives to Lanao del Sur.
In an interview on May 6, Beñas said the teenagers were kidnapped in the busy street of Pala-o in Iligan City on May 4. The abductors used Lat’s vehicle and took the victims to hinterland areas in Lanao del Norte.
"We could not take actions right away since the parents of the victims did not file a complaint until Wednesday afternoon, May 6, at Police Station 5 and reported the abduction,” Beñas said.
Gapay said the AFP-PNP joint peace and security coordinating center will met next week to draw workable action plans to prevent further abduction and extortion activities in the city.
"Lawless elements and kidnap-for-ransom groups are perhaps launching these abduction and extortion activities to generate funds in the upcoming elections in 2016," Gapay said. -From sunstar.com

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