Ex-San Fabian dad kidnapped
NO RANSOM DEMAND
Task force Villegas formed
SAN FABIAN- The police in Pangasinan seems to have been caught with their pants down again with yet another case of kidnapping perpetrated in San Fabian town at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday.
The victim this time is Roland Zerafin Villegas, former president of the Liga ng mga Barangay chapter here, who ran for mayor in the May 2007 election but lost.
The kidnapping occurred barely four months after two daughters of a Fil-Chinese businessman from San Jacinto were kidnapped in Bonuan Gueset, Dagupan City on November 16.
The two girls were released the next day after their father paid an undisclosed amount of ransom.
In the kidnapping of Villegas, incumbent barangay chairman of Anonang, a ransom demand has yet to be received by his family as of press time.
The kidnapping was confirmed by Villegas’ daughter when she sent text messages to her friends on Tuesday asking them to “Please pray for my dad”.
A report from the San Fabian police showed that the kidnapping happened while Villegas was aboard his white Nissan Terrano enroute to the beach near the Philippine Tourism Authority lodge where he is constructing his own building.
Villegas’ Nissan Terrano was later found abandoned in barangay Alacan, San Fabian at 1:40 p.m. on Tuesday through a call made by the victim’s brother, Fourth District Provincial Board Member Liberato Villegas.
Chief Inspector Chito Esmenda, chief of police of San Fabian, called Scene of the Crime Operatives (SOCA) from the Philippine National Police (PNP) Laboratory in Urdaneta to lift finger prints from the abandoned vehicle.
Police Provincial Director Senior Superintendent Isagani Nerez said no motive has been established since no ransom has been demanded so far but a task force has been formed to track down the victim and his kidnappers.
The task force, headed by Nerez himself, is composed of officers from the provincial police, National Bureau of Investigation and the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group.
In an interview with The PUNCH, Nerez said on Wednesday that Villegas’ wife admitted that there was an earlier threat on the life of Villegas through text messages.
“I hope instances like this should be immediately reported to the police so we could provide them proper security,” he said.
Nerez was puzzled because as a former councilor “who lives a very colorful life”, Villegas actually keeps a number of bodyguards. But on the day of his kidnapping, he was alone, driving his own car.
The police chief said they have already requested for a cartographer from the PNP headquarters in Camp Crame to help identify the suspects based on descriptions to be provided by witnesses.
Witnesses saw Villegas being dragged from his Nissan Terrano and thrown into a brown Revo car at gunpoint. Both vehicles sped towards the direction of La Union.
The witnesses believe that Villegas may personally know his kidnappers as he pulled over after he was flagged down by the Revo’s occupants on a road in barangay Bolasi, enroute to the beach.
Villegas, a contractot, was reported to have had a spat with his fellow quarry operator in adjacent San Jacinto town over business matters.—LM
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