MANILA – An opposition member of the Philippine Senate and 17 others were named in a criminal complaint filed by the Philippine National Police (PNP) for their alleged involvement in separate kidnappings for ransom of two Chinese nationals over 10 years ago.
In a charge sheet filed before the Department of Justice, the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group accused Senator Panfilo Lacson and 17 other former policemen for the alleged abduction of two suspected leaders of an international drug syndicate, identified as Chong Hiu Ming, 45, and Wong Kam Chong, 44, on December 30,. 1998 and March 26, 1999, respectively.
The charges arose when Lacson was still the chief of the defunct Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force under ousted president Joseph Estrada. The 17 others named in the complaint were former members of the task force.
Lacson was considered one of the most powerful officials of the Estrada administration when he was appointed the director of the PNP in a concurrent capacity as the task force chief.
The senator is also facing a separate criminal complaint in the killing of publicist Salvador Dacer and his driver whose charred remains were found dumped in a town in Cavite province, Southern Luzon following their abduction in Manila in November 2000.
In the new case, Lacson and his men were charged for allegedly kidnapping Chong while aboard a van on his way to a hotel in suburban Quezon City, Metro Manila in 1998.
The complaint added that Wong was kidnapped allegedly by Lacson and his men outside the gate of a private housing estate also in Quezon City the following year.
It added the two have remained missing despite efforts of their relatives to locate them with the help of their lawyers in the Philippines and officials of the Chinese embassy in Manila.
The complaint named a total of 27 witnesses who reportedly told investigators that despite the payment of huge ransoms, the two victims have yet to be located.
The PNP said the alleged involvement of Lacson and his men to the abductions was due to the discovery of documents that were submitted which was the result of cooperation between Hong Hong police authorities and Lacson’s task force for the monitoring of Chong and Wong who were linked to big-time drug trafficking.
One of the documents, the PNP said, sought support on the “presumptive†death of Chong and Wong by their wives who are based in Hong Kong .
Another document, the PNP added, requested for reports of the Philippine police and results of their investigation on the disappearance of the two victims.
The PNP revealed the documents were discovered following the signing of a mutual legal assistance treaty between the Philippines and Hong Kong, which allows their officials, among others, to exchange information on their nationals suspected of involvement in illegal and criminal activities, like drug smuggling and trafficking.
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