Kidnappers release daughter of CDC official

ANGELES CITY — The daughter of a prominent official of the Clark Development Corp. (CDC), who was abducted last Nov. 4 by armed men wearing uniforms of the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team, was released on Sunday at 10:30 a.m. in San Fernando City.

The victim’s father had earlier requested the media not to publish the kidnapping story as he feared for the safety of his daughter.

City police director Senior Supt. Jimmy Restua said that he is not aware if ransom has been paid by the victim’s family but stressed that the kidnapping was "accidental".

The suspects, he said, apparently initially only planned to rob the Blue Gems pawnshop here late but ended instead with abducting two of its employees — Pilar Pelayo, the CDC official’s daughter and Ernesto Castro, the shop’s keyholder.

Restua said that the suspects waited for the Blue Gems shop to close and then separately trailed Pelayo and Castro. The suspects, however, abandoned their holdup plans when Castro’s sister alerted the police upon seeing his brother being forced by the suspects into a van.

Castro was found in Bocaue, Bulacan on the same day but decided to hold Pelayo for ransom.

"Many saw Pelayo being kidnapped in Barangay Pulong Bulo but no one reported the incident to the police," he noted.

The day after the kidnapping, cellphone text messages spread news about the incident and many demanded for the ouster of Restua as police chief.