Police arrest three suspects, recover ransom
MAYOR’S GRANDSON KIDNAPPING
MANGALDAN–A driver and one former bodyguard of Mayor Herminio Romero were among the three suspects arrested and charged for the kidnapping of the town chief’s grandson last March 11.
Cedric Chua Romero, 8, a grade 2 pupil of the Cinderella School here, was found unharmed in Barangay Alacan at 1:00 a.m. of March 14 after his parents, Christopher and Jennifer Romero, paid P510,000 of the P3 million ransom demanded by the kidnappers.
The kidnappers kept Cedric for at least 55 hours in one of the cottages of the PTA Resort Complex in San Fabian.
A few hours after Cedric’s release, three of the suspects were already in the custody of the local police who worked overtime on the case with elements of the Presidential Anti-Crime Emergency Response (PACER) and other intelligence offices.
First to be caught was Russelito Ydia, alias Russel, a driver of the mayor who later confessed to his employer at 11:00 a.m., March 14 of his involvement in the kidnapping.
Ydia said he was bothered by his conscience and decided to tell the truth.
Police Provincial Director Senior Superintendent Percival Barba said it was Ydia’s confession that served as the breakthrough for the early solution of the kidnapping.
Ydia surrendered to the police his P35,000 share of the ransom money.
In a news conference, Romero confirmed that Ydia was his personal driver who holds a contractual position in the Mangaldan Municipal government.
Subsequently arrested at 4:00 p.m. that day at an eatery in Gueguesangen, Sta. Barbara was Jessie Aquino, a former policeman who was dismissed last year for being Absent without Officials Leave (AWOL) and who once served as one of the bodyguards of Mayor Romero.
Also arrested at 10 p.m. that day at a restaurant in San Miguel, Calasiao was Oscar Tiosen, alias “Pastor”, who stood as negotiator and received the ransom money from Cedric’s parents along the Macayug Bridge in San Jacinto at 2:00 p.m. of March 13.
Tiosen is allegedly a dismissed minister of the Jesus Is Lord Movement, according to Barba.
All the arrested suspects have admitted their participation in the kidnapping.
The other suspects still at large and now the object of manhunt are a certain Rudy Fernandez, Domingo Fernandez, and two John Does.
The mayor said it never occurred to him that Ydia was involved because he was trusted by the family and was with him anywhere he went, even at the time when his grandson was missing.
Police Regional Director Chief Supt. Ramon Gatan arrived to congratulate the Mangaldan Police headed by Supt. Roberto Vocal for the safe recovery of the kidnap victim as well as the arrest of the kidnappers.
Others who participated in the operation against the kidnappers were elements of the Provincial Intelligence Branch, Provincial Investigation and Detection Management Branch and Special Operations Group of the Pangasinan Provincial Office.
Barba told newsmen the suspects had no links with any organized kidnapping syndicate in other parts of the country.
Recovered from Aquino were P104,000 in cash believed to be part of the ransom money, and the cellphone used for negotiating the ransom money.
Recovered from Tiosen was P20,000 cash.
Romero admitted that although they paid the ransom money to ensure the safety of Cedric, the move was coordinated with the police even as he requested a news blackout in the media.
He thanked the media in Pangasinan for their cooperation, adding that although some got wind of the incident, they honored his personal request for a news blackout to ensure the safety of his grandson.
Cedric was kidnapped as he was boarding a pedicab in front of their house on Rizal Street bound for school. The driver, wearing sunglasses and bonnet, instead brought him to Barangay Nibaliw, then to Barangay Salaan.
From there, he was transferred to a motorized tricycle that brought him to the PTA Resort Complex where he was kept while the kidnappers negotiated with the mayor and his parents for his release.—LM
Share your Comments or Reactions
Powered by Facebook Comments
