Alleged mastermind in Betti Chua kidnap-slay arrested

The alleged mastermind in the November 2003 kidnapping and killing of the finance manager of the Coca-Cola Export Corp. and eight other suspected gang members have been arrested, President Arroyo said yesterday.

Zosimo Lauzon, 48, alleged to be the leader of the notorious Waray-Waray gang, was arrested Sunday by agents of the National Anti-Kidnapping Task Force (NAKTF) in Payatas, Quezon City.

Lauzon allegedly masterminded eight kidnappings between 2001 and 2003, including that of Betti Chua Sy, a Chinese-Filipino finance executive of the Coca-Cola Export Corp. He was on the NAKTF most wanted list and carried a P1-million bounty on his head.

Sy bled to death from a gunshot wound while in captivity and her body was found stuffed inside a garbage bag at a Parañaque City roadside in mid-November last year.

Her kidnapping was among a string of abductions targeting affluent members of the ethnic Chinese community in Metro Manila that forced Mrs. Arroyo to lift a four-year moratorium on the death penalty.

Mrs. Arroyo said Paul Lumbad, the suspected brains behind the kidnapping of a businessman in the northern Philippines, was also arrested on Sunday.

On Tuesday, police rescued two steel company employees seized in Las Piñas City and arrested seven other suspects.

Mrs. Arroyo vowed to eradicate kidnapping, noting that since she created a special task force against organized crime in October, 118 gang leaders and members had been detained or killed.

"Of the total number, 96 were captured and nine surrendered. The rest chose to fight it out to their own detriment," she said.

She also sought to assure the Chinese-Filipino community that authorities would remain vigilant to tackle remaining kidnap gangs.

"Our achievements in the anti-kidnapping campaign have been remarkably consistent," the President said. "Thanks to the leadership of (NAKTF chief) Secretary Angie Reyes and the steadfastness of the composite teams under the NAKTF."

"Despite the heady political atmosphere of the past month... our law enforcement agents and leaders and officials have been chalking up solid gains," she added.

During the campaign and election periods, she said, "not a single kidnapping occurred and that’s why we’re saying that now kidnapping is at an all-time low." — with AFP