KIDAPAWAN CITY (MindaNews/17 August) – Police and Army troops in Cotabato City and Maguindanao have intensified their search and rescue operations for a Filipino-Chinese trader who was kidnapped late Monday afternoon in a commercial district in Cotabato City.
Nelson Tay, owner of New Asian Trading located along Don Rufino Alonzo Street in Cotabato City, was snatched at gunpoint by two fatigue-clad men and shoved into a blue old model van with a plate bearing the number 382.
A relative of Tay’s who refused to be identified told reporters in Cotabato City that upon learning of the incident he immediately dialed the hotlines of the local police and the Army’sTask Force Tugis based at PC Hill. But no one took his call, he said.
“So when the police and the Army arrived in the area, the suspects had already fled to an unknown direction,” he said.
Tay owns a small foam store in Cotabato City.
He was inside his room when the abductors came and ordered his security guards to lie on their bellies, dragged him outside, and told him to board the van parked in front of his store.
“It was quick and easy, as if nothing happened. The suspects immediately sped towards the Don Rufino Alonzo extension. We supposed he was brought to a riverbank somewhere in the city and was transported to the marsh using a pump boat,” one of the witnesses told reporters.
After he learned of Tay’s abduction, Cotabato City Mayor Guiapal Guiani, Jr. ordered the search and rescue operations for the victim and the manhunt against the suspects.
The victim’s family has refused to issue a statement on the kidnapping. (Malu Cadelina Manar/MindaNews)