Chinese and Malaysian tourists within the Philippines kidnapped by police for ransom, 4 officers arrested
On Wednesday, officials said 4 law enforcement officials assigned to the Philippine Capital Region were arrested for kidnapping for ransom the victims of 4 foreign tourists.
Over the weekend, two officers on motorcycles stopped a luxury automobile carrying three Chinese men and a Malaysian while their armed civilian cohort handcuffed and dragged 4 tourists right into a van. Police said the 2 Chinese managed to flee and notify authorities.
The remaining captives were beaten by their captors but were released overnight after paying a ransom of two.5 million pesos ($43,100), Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos said. Information provided by the freed tourists and photos from security cameras led to the arrest of 4 law enforcement officials, including a police major, he added.
“I was shocked that police officers were involved in the case,” Abalos said at a press conference during which 4 law enforcement officials in handcuffs and orange T-shirts were presented as detainees. “This incident is a serious breach of public trust and the core values of the police force.”
Police said they were in search of no less than 10 other suspects who will not be law enforcement officials but are involved within the kidnapping.
The police said that they had filed a criminal criticism against the suspects in reference to kidnapping, automobile theft and robbery.
Former President Rodrigo Duterte has described many members of the National Police, which numbers greater than 230,000 troops across the country, as “rotten to the core” although he ordered them to implement his anti-drug crackdown that led to the killings of 1000’s of mostly poor suspects.
The International Criminal Court is investigating the large-scale killings as a possible crime against humanity. Duterte and his national police chiefs have denied authorizing extrajudicial killings, although the previous president publicly threatened to kill drug suspects during his presidency, which resulted in 2022.
