Armed men abduct trader in Cotabato City

KIDAPAWAN CITY — Security forces in Cotabato City and Maguindanao have intensified their search and rescue operations for a Chinese-Filipino trader abducted Monday afternoon in Cotabato City. Cotabato City Mayor Guiapal Guiani Jr. called for the search and rescue operations after learning the abduction of Nelson Tay. Tay, owner of New Asian Trading located along Don Rufino Alonzo Street in Cotabato City, was seized at gunpoint by two men clad in camouflage uniforms and was taken somewhere in Maguindanao. A relative of Tay, who refused to be identified, told media in Cotabato City that when he learned of the incident, he immediately dialed the hotlines of the Cotabato City PNP and the Task Force Tugis of the Philippine Army based at PC Hill. No one took his call, he said. "So when the Police and the Army arrived in the area, the suspects have already fled to an unknown direction," said the relative. Tay owns a small foam store in Cotabato City. He was inside his room when two men clad in camouflage uniforms ordered his security guards to lie on their back, dragged him outside, and told to board the van parked in front of his store. "It was quick and easy, as if nothing has happened. The suspects immediately sped toward the Don Rufino Alonzo extension. We [think] he was brought to a river bank somewhere in the city and was transported to the marsh using a pump boat," one of the witnesses said. The family of Tay refused to issue any statement regarding the incident. — Malu Cadeliña Manar/RSJ, GMANews.TV