June 20, 2001, Inquirer News Service, Lacson: I have nothing to do with kidnappings,

June 20, 2001, Inquirer News Service, Lacson: I have nothing to do with kidnappings,

OPPOSITION senators yesterday slammed the Macapagal administration for blaming the spree of kidnappings on one of them, saying it should instead focus on improving police visibility and intelligence gathering. 

"The President is being fed contaminated and rubbish intelligence reports by the military and police," Senator-elect Panfilo Lacson said in an interview with dzRH. 

Lacson was reacting to President Macapagal-Arroyo’s statement on Tuesday that a series of abductions in Metro Manila appeared to be part of a sinister plot to destabilize her administration. 

The President did not name names, but Interior Secretary Jose Lina said the leader of the kidnap group was "definitely a person from the opposition who had links to the previous administration." 

Even so, Lacson--the former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief of ousted President Joseph Estrada--felt alluded to. 

Lacson voiced suspicions his longtime enemy, PNP intelligence chief Senior Supt. Reynaldo Berroya, as well as Armed Forces intelligence chief Col. Victor Corpus had fed Ms Macapagal with false info. 

Lacson said he had nothing to do whatsoever with the kidnapping of Mary Grace Rosagas, a daughter of Chinese-Filipino businessman Robert Cheng, on the morning of June 18 in Quezon City. Three of the kidnappers were reportedly wearing police uniforms. 

Rosagas, her driver and a bodyguard were freed 17 hours later after her family paid a still undetermined ransom to the kidnappers. 

Ms Macapagal and Lina raised questions about the kidnapping and release of Rosagas, indicating the abduction might have been staged to embarrass the government. 

The Quezon City police investigators, however, said Wednesday the kidnapping was anything but a sinister plot to destabilize the government. 

"Our investigation indicates that this is a case of plain and simple kidnapping," said Insp. Rudy Jaraza, head of the Central Police District homicide division. 

"We have found no leads that would link this to any political motive," Jaraza said. 

He said the ransom was delivered in Laguna on Monday night. The kidnappers released Rosagas, her driver and a bodyguard and told them to take a bus to Cubao, Quezon City. 

Sotto

Sen. Vicente Sotto also denied charges that the opposition was behind the recent wave of kidnappings in Metro Manila. 

"This is a desperate move on the part of the Macapagal administration," Sotto told a local radio station from the United States where he is vacationing. 

He admitted knowing the victim and her family. 

"They called me up after the kidnapping. They admitted paying the people who abducted their daughter," Sotto said. 

"It is saddening that the victims are the ones being accused of engaging in some kind of a plot." 

He said he had no idea how much ransom was paid the kidnappers.

For his part, Sen. Gregorio Honasan suggested that the government focus on drawing up measures to stop kidnappings. 

Honasan, chair of the Senate committee on peace, unification and reconciliation and vice chair of the Senate committee on defense, raised the possibility the President was being fed raw information that still required verification. 

"If indeed a member of the opposition is behind the upsurge of crimes, then the government should gather enough evidence to support its claim so it may file the necessary charges as soon as possible," he said. 

"It is rather unfair to make the opposition the convenient scapegoat each time it (the Macapagal administration) is facing a problem," he said. 

Strong leads

Presidential spokesperson Rigoberto Tiglao said PNP Director General Leandro Mendoza told him that his agency "has strong leads and may crack the case in a week’s time." 

"They have leads, eyewitnesses and other information on who was behind this," Tiglao told a news briefing. 

Government officials and analysts say the wave of kidnaps was one more negative factor behind the recent fall of the peso, which hit a five-month low of 52.35 to the dollar on Tuesday. 

Singapore, alarmed by the abduction of four of its businessmen in Manila, has expressed its concern to the Philippines and urged its nationals "to exercise caution, keep informed of developments affecting their personal safety and to remain vigilant." 

The British Embassy in Manila said in a travel advisory that three Britons had been kidnapped this year. 

"Heightened security awareness is essential," it warned. 

Other embassies and the Manila-based Asian Development Bank have urged their nationals and staff to take care. 

A 35-year-old British businessman, who has lived in Manila for five years, said some foreigners put themselves at risk by venturing into crime-ridden areas. Some were given spiked drinks in bars or lured away by young women. 

But the expatriate community was alarmed by the recent case of a British woman kidnapped in Makati City, he said. 

"What does concern us was the fact there was an Englishwoman abducted right outside Glorietta," said the businessman who declined to be identified. 

The spate of abductions has prompted the government to go on the offensive. Ms Macapagal has ordered the creation of an anti-crime council to be headed by Justice Secretary Hernando Perez.--With reports from Christine Avendaño, Ian Esguerra and Inquirer wires