Jaro abduction yarn still unsubstantiated, police says

By Jennifer P. Rendon

Police are still investigating the veracity of an alleged abduction incident in Jaro, Iloilo City afternoon of September 11, 2023.

Except for the testimony of a lone witness, there are no other pieces of evidence to support that the episode was a case of abduction or kidnapping.

Major Eduardo Siacon, Jr., Iloilo City Police Station 3 chief, said that close circuit television (CCTV) cameras owned by Barangay San Isidro are not functional.

“Daw nagkalaguba ni kuno ila CCTV cameras kay nasunog. We found no other CCTV cameras in the area that have captured what happened,” he said.

The reported abduction happened around 4:45 p.m. Monday at the boundary of barangays San Isidro and Sambag, Jaro.

The witness, a certain Bong, claimed that he did not think that the group of four men would forcibly take a motorcycle rider.

He initially thought that it was a vehicular incident involving a white sedan and the alleged victim’s motorcycle.

Bong claimed that he saw them talking and assumed they were discussing the traffic incident.

He approached the group and inquired what happened.

But one of the four men told him, “Lakat kamo to kay pulis ni.”

Bong said that he then kept his silence and walked away.

But a few minutes later, he saw the rider hurriedly running back to his motorcycle while asking for help.

One of the four men ran after him and they later forced the man to board the sedan.

One of the four men then drove the rider’s motorcycle.

Shortly later, another motorcycle-riding man went back to the area and admonished a woman who documented the incident on her mobile phone.

Meanwhile, Siacon said they received no report of any missing person in Jaro district or in other places nearby.

“We can’t say that it was a prank but we can’t also rule that it was a case of abduction,” he said.

Siacon said an investigation is still going to determine what indeed transpired.