Top aide, wife, refuse to give details, according to reports

By SEN GUINGGUING

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY.-A businessman who traced his roots in Tayong, Loay town is in the news all over the Gold City after he was abducted by armed men right inside his agrivet store in barangay Gusa Monday. It appeared that Boholanos who make good in this city are attractive targets to Mindanao-based kidnappers after the same caper happened to another compatriot sometime in December last year. The December incident involved a regional paint executive based in this city but was snatched by armed men in Lanao del Sur. The kidnap victim, identified as Esdgar Cuajao, 38, of Sta. Cruz, Baclayon town, was freed after paying P100,000 as his “”board and lodging”, the euphemism for ransom money in exchange for his freedom. The latest CDO kidnapping involved Emmanuel Boniao of barangay Gusa and owner of People’s Agri Supply.

According to reports reaching the Post from Cagayan de Oro City, Buniao is actually from Valencia City, Bukidnon. His agrivet business must be a flourishing enterprise that it has branches in Bukidnon and Davao. The same reports revealed that the kidnappers who remain unknown as of press time were demanding a ransom of P100 million. The Post was able to get in touch yesterday with his top aide identified as Romeo Dunque in his cell phone but refused to give details of the kidnapping on instructions of police and military officers tracking the whereabouts of the kidnappers. Cagayan de Oro Cong. Rufus Rodriguez who was a classmate of Boniao at Xavier University, in this city, said, he was calling for an inquiry regarding the kidnapping. He said he visited the wife of Boniao in Gusa, but just the same, refused to give further details of her husband’s abduction. According to authorities, they spotted a similarity in the abduction of Boniao last Monday and the June kidnapping of an Ozamiz-based businessman in Lanao del Norte.

The kidnappers of Boniao and businessman Alexander Lim wore police T-shirts, a police official told The Gold Star Daily, a newspaper based in this city. Lim, a son of the owner of a known construction company in Ozamiz, was kidnapped by armed men in Linamon, Lanao del Norte, last June 8. He was freed in Saguiaran, Lanao del Sur, after one month of captivity. A group of about six to eight men, wearing police T-shirts, snatched Boniao from inside his store, People's Agri Supply, at Barangay Gusa, this city, at around 10:30 am last Monday. On Wednesday, police found the getaway vehicle in Sumilao, Bukidnon. Inside were police T-shirts and caps and other items. Based on the records of the National Police's Regional Investigation and Detective Management Division (RIDMD), there have been six abductions, including Boniao's, in Northern Mindanao this year. Not a single suspected kidnapper has been arrested.

Incidentally, Boniao's store in Barangay Gusa, Cagayan de Oro City is adjacent to a building whose previous owner, Benny Leongben Lee, was kidnapped and subsequently murdered in the 1980s. The Lee kidnapping and murder case has remained unsolved. A police official who spoke on condition of anonymity said the abduction of Boniao could be part of a campaign to raise funds for the 2013 elections. "Remember that we are nearing an election year. Where do you think the money used to bribe voters and election officers would come from?" the official asked rhetorically. He faulted the families of previous victims for acceding to demands for "board and lodging" payment. The official said the "reimbursements" were still ransom money. This, he said, has emboldened kidnap-for-ransoms groups to turn their criminal activities into a "cottage industry." "We want them (kidnap victims' families) to coordinate with us. We always advise the families not to pay," the source said. He said what aggravates the problem is that kidnap victims almost always refuse to cooperate with police authorities after they are released by their abductors. "They (kidnap victims) refused to coordinate with us after they were released. There was no debriefing of the victims which is very important because this is how we profile the suspects in the region," the official said.

PACER STEPS IN

Meanwhile, the Police Anti-Crime and Emergency Response (Pacer) has stepped in and is now handling the case on the kidnapping of prominent Cagayan de Oro businessman Manny Boniao. Pacer officials have met with Mayor Vicente Emano over the creation of a crisis management committee. Emano said the crisis management committee would map out plans to secure the release of Boniao. Emano admitted that authorities were still facing a blank wall on the identities of the suspects or their motives. "Every now and then, we receive pieces of information but we are still validating all these," he said. He said the kidnappers have yet to contact the family of Boniao. "It's not easy because there has been no word from the abductors until now. We are still waiting," Emano said. He said officials in Marawi city and the two Lanao provinces, including Bukidnon, were asked to help. Emano appealed to the kidnappers not to harm Boniao. He said he wanted to negotiate with them. Police also brushed aside radio reports that the kidnappers have demanded P100 million in exchange for the release of Boniao.

Regional Special Operations Group chief Reynante Reyes said investigators could not yet conclude that the Boniao case is kidnapping for ransom. At the same time, Emano said he suspected that the abandoned getaway vehicle found in Sumilao, Bukidnon last Wednesday, was part of a diversionary tactic of the kidnappers. Police found inside the Mitsubishi Adventure six police T-shirts and four caps with the Police Regional Office 4A (Calabarzon) logo, 22 cans of black acrylic spray paint, lacquer thinner bottles, a roll of green adhesive tape, a brown leather wallet and a spare tire cover. Police also recovered a sleeveless shirt with bloodstains. "Dili ko masabot ngano ilang gituyo og bilin didto ang sakyanan unya ang gipintalan og itum," Emano said.

LOAY CHECK

Checking the Boholano background of the victim, the Post sought the help of Loay Councilor Brigido “Boy” Imboy and his investigation showed that indeed the Buniao family is dominant in barangay Tayong. Further investigation showed that the kidnapped victim was already an orphan of both parents.