Father of abducted Atenean dismayed by police ‘kidnap me’ theory

The father of the Ateneo de Manila University student who was reportedly abducted inside the school's premises last November 21 expressed dismay over police findings labeling the incident a possible "kidnap me" case.

“Parang twice over yung kanyang pagiging victim. Na-victimize ka na sa kidnapping and then here comes again, from the very institution that you were supposed to trust, sasabihin na gawa-gawa mo lang ito. Napakasakit nu'n for us,” he said in a report on "Saksi" aired Friday night.



He said he received threatening text messages from the alleged abductors during the night of the incident, according to the TV report.

“Kawawa naman ang anak mo. Isinugal ng ama. Antayin mo na lang ang ulo ng anak mo,” he said quoting the text messages.

In an earlier report, Chief Supt. Richard Albano of the QC Police District told GMA News Online,“Wala nangyaring kidnapping. Kwento lang ‘yun nung bata.”

“Ang pamilya [ng biktima] na mismo ang nagsabi na mukhang walang nangyaring kidnapping... Hindi rin natin niru-rule out ‘yung possibility ng kidnap me,” Albano added.

GMA News Online tried to reach Albano again for further clarification of his previous statements but he did not answer his phone or reply to text messages.

Meanwhile, the Philippine National Police said that while they are also considering the "kidnap me" angle they are not saying that this is exactly what happened, the TV report said.

On November 21, the 20-year-old supposed victim was purportedly seized by kidnappers at the ADMU North car park.

At about 8 p.m., the victim's father got a text message from a person who introduced himself as a professor of his child, the report said.

The supposed professor initially asked for P50,000 as payment for the money the victim had owed him. After the father refused to believe the caller's claims, he received another text message from the victim's number.

“Papa P250,000 for me, Jollibee Cubao,” the text was followed by another message “Alone.”

The family then contacted authorities and haggled with the kidnappers lowering the ransom to P30,000, the report said.

Surprisingly, the father said, the suspects left the victim at a gasoline station in Manggahan, Pasig City, on the morning of November 22, even if ransom was not paid to the suspects, the report added.

According to the narrative of the victim, her abductors instead took her cellphone, jewelry and cash amounting to P50,000.

She also said the suspects kept on saying the operation was botched and repeatedly reassured her that she will be released.

The victim is still attending classes at the ADMU while an investigation of the case is ongoing, the report said. — Andrei Medina /LBG, GMA News