Dagupan traders fear for their safety

DAGUPAN CITY — The kidnapping of a hotel owner here has caused panic among Chinese-Filipino businessmen in the city.

The victim, Charlie Ngo, 52, owner of Star Plaza Hotel, was reportedly abducted last Sept. 27 while he was on his way home, on board his Daewoo car, from a videoke bar along Arellano street here.

No less than Deputy Director General Hermogenes Ebdane, chairman of the National Anti-Kidnapping Task Force, confirmed the kidnapping last week.

A businessman, who refused to be identified, said he and his friends do not go out anymore at night to unwind after a day’s work because they fear for their safety.

"Mahirap na, baka makidnap tayo (It’s difficult, we might be kidnapped)," he said.

Unconfirmed reports that kidnappers were targeting six other Chinese-Filipino businessmen, have been circulating here.

Up to now, Ngo’s family has refused to cooperate with the police. The last time Superintendent Noli Taliño, the city police chief, asked them about Ngo’s whereabouts and condition, they said Ngo was on vacation either in Cebu or Manila.

"We cannot blame them. If that’s what they report to us, that’s also what we tell the media," Taliño told dzSD Super Radyo Dagupan.

He, however, said the police are doing their best to provide security for Dagupeños.

He said they are going to distribute information kits on crime prevention to city residents, especially the Chinese-Filipino community, to teach them how to deal with crimes, particularly kidnappings.

The police are verifying possible links between the Ngo abduction and the kidnapping of 28-year-old Rowena Tiu, a daughter of a lumber magnate in La Union, last Sept. 26.

Last Friday night, another businessman, Boy Balingit, whose father is considered by President Arroyo as her "foster father," almost became a kidnap victim.

While driving in Calasiao town, two vehicles tailed Balingit’s car but he managed to hastily speed away.