Pasay top cop sees drug link in ‘kidnap’ cases

DRUG LINK. Pasay City police chief Col. Bernard Yang (right) on Tuesday (Dec. 3, 2019) says the reported kidnapping cases in the city might be related to illegal drugs. Meanwhile, NCRPO chief Brig. Gen. Debold Sinas (center) dismissed as false information posts claiming that the reported abductions are staged by syndicates involved in selling internal organs. (PNA photo by Lloyd Caliwan)

MANILA — The alleged kidnapping incidents in Pasay City reported last month might be linked to illegal drugs, the city’s top police official said Tuesday.

Col. Bernard Yang, Pasay City police chief, said based on the initial investigation seven individuals had been reported missing persons and not nine as earlier reported.

Yang said some relatives of the missing persons, whose ages range from 16 to 22 years old, admitted that some of them were involved in illegal drug transactions.

“A parent of one of them mentioned something about the involvement of his child in illegal drugs. Meanwhile, one said his/her sibling is missing and is also involved in illegal drugs,” Yang told reporters during the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) regular press briefing held at the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) Station 10 on Tuesday.

He, however, said they have yet to find people who can give additional testimonies that will shed light on these cases.

Yang said three of them were involved in online selling but they are not certain yet if it involves illegal drugs.

The social media posts about the white van and missing children in Metro Manila have become viral for several times in the past.

Recently, a video clip from closed-circuit television (CCTV) uploaded on Facebook captured how a minor was allegedly taken by a group on board a white van in the southern part of Metro Manila.

Pasay City Mayor Emi Calixto-Rubiano earlier instructed Yang to look into reports about the alleged kidnapping incidents in the city.

The mayor also reminded citizens to first report these incidents to their nearest community police precinct before posting it on social media.

For his part, NCRPO acting director Brig. Gen. Debold Sinas belied reports that the abductions were staged by syndicates involved in selling internal organs.

He said reports, particularly those circulating online, in which a white van is going around Metro Manila and other nearby provinces to take children for their internal organs were all fake news. He said the police were yet to get any formal complaint on such matters.

“What is certain is hindi totoo ‘yung balita na ina-abduct dahil kinukuhanan ng body parts (the news about the abduction and getting body parts is not true). Fake ang mga pictures noon. Kung saan-saan po kino-collate ‘yun (Those photos that were collated are fake),” Sinas said.

Sinas said the PNP’s Anti-Cybercrime Group is already taking over the matter to identify the people behind the viral posts which have alarmed the public.

On Monday, PNP spokesperson Brig. Gen. Bernard Banac urged netizens to be wary of posting and sharing fake information in their respective social media accounts.

Banac, however, said those who witnessed such an incident should report them to the nearest police station.