A policeman has been charged and placed under restrictive custody at Camp Crame, as he is being investigated for the involvement in the kidnap-slay of a South Korean businessman in Central Luzon, Philippine National Police chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa said Jan. 9.
Senior Police Officer 3 Ricky Sta. Isabel, a civilian and several John Does were also charged.
Jee Ick-Joo was kidnapped from his home in Angeles City, Pampanga last Oct. 18.
His helper, Marisa Dawis, who was kidnapped along with Jee but was later released, said two men looted the house and accused Jee of being involved in the illegal drug trade.
Jee’s wife, Choi Kyung-jin, paid P5 million as ransom to the kidnappers. When they demanded P4.5 million more, she wrote to President Duterte and Dela Rosa, asking for help.
However, Jee was strangled to death and burned to ashes in a cre- matorium owned by a former police officer on the day he was abducted.
ARRESTED: Hairulla Asbang, alias Ahadi, sub-leader of the Sulu-based Abu Sayyaf group, by joint military
and police forces, in Sulu, on Dec. 25. Authorites tagged Asbang in the kidnapping of tourists in Samal Island and former Italian priest Rolando del Torchio on Oct. 7, 2015 in Dipolog City. The Abu Sayyaf freed Del Torchio in Jolo, Sulu in April 2016 after payment of P29 million ransom. Canadians John Ridsdel and Robert Hall, Norwegian Kjartan Sekkingstad, and Hall’s Filipino girlfriend Marites Flor from a resort in Samal Island on Sept. 21, 2015. Ridsdel and Hall were beheaded in April and June, respectively, after a ransom demand of P300 million each was not met. Flor and Sekkingstad were freed separately after payment of ransom.
RANSOM DEMANDED: P100M ransom (8.8 million ringgit), for Malaysian captives Tayudin Anjut, Mohammad Ridzuan Bin Ismail, Abdul Rahim Bin Summas, Fandy Bin Bakran and Zulkipli Bin. Tayu- din Anjut, Mohammad Ridzuan Bin Ismail, Abdul Rahim Bin Summas, Fandy Bin Bakran and Zulkipli Bin – all crewmembers of Serudung 3. They were taken off the coast of Lahad Datu in Sabah last July 19.
KIDNAPPED: Philippine-flagged fishing vessel FB Ramona 2 captain Noel Besconde, marine diesel me- chanic Reyjim Rocabo, and crew members Roy Ramos and Roel Liones, off Sulu, on Dec. 19.