A Chinese national suspected of kidnapping a Chinese-Australian in Manila was arrested by agents of the Philippine National Police-Anti-Kidnapping Group on May 28.
Police rescued Chen Jianting, 29, at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 1 on May 27.
He was kidnapped by five Chinese nationals on May 24 from a high-end casino in Manila after failing to pay gambling-related debts.
Chen reportedly borrowed P500,000 from five Chinese nationals: four males and a female. He gambled the money and lost.
The lenders demanded that Chen’s wife remit RMB90,000 (P673,000) for his release.
One of the suspects, Meng Lei, was spotted during surveillance by the PNP-AKG near the casino entrance.
He was arrested and has been charged with kidnapping for ransom and serious illegal detention.
Police are searching for the other four cohorts.
Chen was apparently kidnapped in February in Pasay City by four other Chinese nationals who were alleged members of a loan shark syndicate.
The four were arrested. They do not appear to be linked with the five suspects this time.
In a related incident, the PNP-AKG nabbed two Chinese suspected of kidnapping fellow
Chinese over a gambling debt.
Wang Sing Dong, 33, was gambling at a resort and casino in Parañaque when Yuan Zhong Xie and Liu Bo offered him P500,000 cash.
They required Wang to pay an interest of P10,000 a day and sign an agreement. When Wang failed to pay up, the suspects kidnapped him on May 19.
On May 20, Wang called his father, Wang Pin Gian, for help. Five days later, the father sent RMB37,600 (P276,700), and another RMB30,000 (P224,400) the following day.
On May 27, suspects brought Wang back to the hotel and forced him to pay another P80,000 for eight days of captivity.
Wang asked the hotel security for help. The security in turn contacted the PNP-AKG
Abus kill Dutch hostage in Sulu clash
A fight between Abu Sayyaf members and the military on May 31 in Sulu left kidnapped Dutch bird watcher Ewold Horn dead.
Also killed were Mingayan Sahiron, the wife of Abu leader Radulan Sahiron, and five other gang members. Eight soldiers and 12 bandits were wounded.
Horn’s body was recovered after the clash in Sitio Bud Sub-Sub, Barangay Pansul, Patikul, that lasted an hour and a half, according to a report released by Western Mindanao Command.
Horn was believed to have been shot by his guards when he tried to escape. He was kidnapped in Panglima Sugala, Tawi-Tawi on Feb.1, 2012.