The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) on Friday touted the success of the unified 911 emergency hotline after police rescued a 78-year-old businesswoman from kidnappers who, in a bizarre moment, brought her to a bank to withdraw ransom money.
In a press briefing at Camp Crame, DILG Secretary Jonvic Remulla said the Philippine National Police Anti-Kidnapping Group (PNP-AKG) rescued the victim after a 911 call from a bank manager triggered a swift response.
The victim was abducted in Quezon City on September 2, with her captors demanding ₱150 million from her family. She was held in a “safehouse” in Laurel, Batangas for nine days.
But on September 11, Remulla said, the suspects made a baffling move.
“You can make a movie out of this… Like a comedy of errors… But it’s safe to say that the response of our PNP (was right on cue)” the DILG chief told reporters.
Remulla said it was his “first time” to encounter a kidnapping story in which the suspects brought their victim to the bank to withdraw money from her account.
“In less than two minutes after the call of the branch manager, our responders arrived and the kidnappers were arrested,” he noted.
“It seems like a very amateur job—those who did this. The mere fact that they took (the victim) to the bank shows that the level of their sophistication is very low,” Remulla said of the kidnappers.
Three suspects were arrested inside the bank, while a follow-up operation led to the capture of eight more accomplices — including two dismissed Marines and a former Army soldier.
The victim, who is part of a family engaged in industrial manufacturing, is reportedly in good health and is receiving counseling.
Charges of kidnapping-for-ransom are being prepared, while authorities continue to pursue other individuals potentially involved in the crime.
“I’d like to commend the AKG and the PNP because within several hours they arrested all the suspects,” Remulla said. “It shows that the entire ecosystem of law enforcement (works).”
