The Philippine police reported that a Chinese citizen, who was kidnapped around 1 AM on October 20th while fishing with his compatriots near the Bustos Dam on the Angat River in Barangay Tibagan, Bustos, Bulacan, has been released "somewhere in Manila."
According to the police, at the time of the incident, the victim was fishing along the Angat River with other compatriots when four men claiming to be "persons in authority" approached them and kidnapped the victim.
Just a day before this incident, two Chinese businessmen were kidnapped in their office in Bangkok, Thailand, and a ransom of about 12 million Thai Baht was demanded.
At a press conference held at the police headquarters in Camp Crame, Quezon City, Philippine police spokesperson, Brigadier General Jean Fajardo, stated that the Chinese victim has been released, has undergone a medical examination, and is currently being questioned by the PNP Anti-Kidnapping Group.
"He was released around 12:05 AM today. After being freed, he also visited his wife who was in labor early this morning," added Fajardo.
Fajardo mentioned that investigators are currently searching for CCTV footage in the area where the victim was released to find possible clues and evidence.
"We have identified the suspects, but we need to let the Anti-Kidnapping Group carry out the backtracking and investigation. They are still questioning the victim, and if you remember, the initial ransom paid by the victim's family was about 5 million Philippine Pesos," she added.
Fajardo noted that the kidnapped Chinese might be linked to the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators centers.
Previously, Fajardo had mentioned that the aforementioned 5 million Pesos ransom was paid overseas in cryptocurrency, which poses a challenge for the Anti-Kidnapping Group in tracking the money flow, and they have already contacted international counterparts for assistance.
The police are investigating the possible connection between the victim and online gambling fraud, which might be the criminal motive behind this kidnapping.
Previously, the police mentioned that the hostage owed another Chinese individual a debt of 15 million Pesos. Moreover, the initial ransom demanded by the kidnappers was 300,000 US dollars, approximately 17.3 million Pesos. The debt owed by the hostage, along with some interest, seems to roughly match the ransom demanded by the kidnappers.
The fact that the hostage's relatives informed the police of this information suggests that they also suspect that the 33-year-old Chinese was likely kidnapped in connection with this debt. If the hostage was indeed controlled for debt collection, it might not necessarily be considered a kidnapping.
This case is also one of the rare instances this year where kidnappers in the Philippines have voluntarily released a hostage.
