The reported kidnapping of a South Korean businessman by a crooked policeman, who allegedly used President Duterte\u2019s unyielding war on drugs to carry out the crime, was a \u201cmatter of concern,\u201d a Malaca\u00f1ang official said on Sunday.
Dubbed as \u201cTokhang for ransom,\u201d the ploy has cops knocking on the doors of big businessmen in the fashion of the national law enforcement project, only this one involves kidnapping and extortion.
Police involved
Ernesto Abella, Mr. Duterte\u2019s spokesperson, deferred to comment fully on the case of Jee Ick-joo, 53, who was forcibly taken on Oct. 18 from his house in Angeles City by two men, one of whom was allegedly a member of the Philippine National Police Anti-Illegal Drugs Group (PNP-AIDG) in Camp Crame.
He said he would still have to confirm from the authorities the circumstances regarding the foreign national\u2019s disappearance.
\u201cWe can say that it\u2019s a matter of concern, but it\u2019s not alarming because the police scalawags are already existing,\u201d Abella told the Inquirer in a mobile phone interview.
\u201cI will confirm this case and I\u2019ll see what I can do,\u201d he added.
Earlier, Jee\u2019s wife, Choi Kyung-jin, said in an interview that she has no plans to go after the kidnappers. \u201cI am just after my husband,\u201d she said.
She said she hoped the President would use his authority to locate her husband\u2019s whereabouts.
\u201cIf my husband comes back to us alive, I will not file any case against the kidnappers, stop all cases that are ongoing and I will go back to my country, Korea, with [my] husband,\u201d she said in her plea on social media.
Choi, who last saw her husband at 9 a.m. on Oct. 18, was unable to contact him until the following day.
Neighbors then surfaced to report what they saw: her husband being dragged into his black SUV by several men, one of whom was identified as a policeman.
Choi saw the incident as captured by a security camera at the house across the street.
No amount of resistance was able to stop the kidnappers, who even got help from a group of men aboard another vehicle\u2014a black Toyota Hilux\u2014parked in front of the house. The vehicle later turned out to be registered under the name of the wife of the suspect police officer.
Marisa Dawis, the couple\u2019s helper, was also abducted.
Investigation by the PNP-AIDG showed that two men initially went inside the house and introduced themselves as police officers, conducted a search and eventually destroyed closets in the process.
PNP Anti-Kidnapping Group Luzon unit chief Senior Supt. Rodolfo Castil Jr., in a letter addressed to Senior Deputy State Prosecutor Theodore Villanueva, recommended the investigation of the suspects for kidnapping for ransom and serious illegal detention.
The suspects are one police officer assigned to the PNP-AIDG, another identified male, three unidentified men with detailed descriptions and several \u201cJohn Does.\u201d The names of the identified suspects were withheld upon request of Choi for fear of further harm of her family.
P8-million ransom
On her own, Choi negotiated with the kidnappers after they texted her, demanding a ransom of P8 million. She delivered the the negotiated amount\u2014P5 million\u2014to the designated location but her husband was not released.
Three days after, the kidnappers demanded an additional P4.5 million which she could no longer deliver.
She had no recourse then but to tell the police of the ransom payment.
No word has been heard from the kidnappers since then.
Choi said it was her hope that her husband remained alive and well.<\/p>\n