POLICE NAB 4 CIVILIAN AGENTS FOR KIDNAP

CAMP GENERAL ALEJO S. SANTOS, Bulacan-Chief Supt. Videl E. Querol, Central
Luzon police director, has called for the dismissal of civilian agents in
law enforcement agencies after two Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency
(PDEA) civilian agents were arrested Monday for kidnapping.

Querol identified the arrested PDEA civilian agents Delfin Rodriguez Santos
Jr., 49, and Antonio Gutierrez Ong, 52, both married. They were nabbed
during an entrapment laid out by the Marilao police at a fast-food outlet
while receiving ransom money demanded from kidnapped victims George
Carolino Galuco, 20, and his wife, Maricel Pascual, 20, at 12:30 a.m.
Monday. The young couple are engaged in the garments business.

Querol noted that the employment of civilian agents by law enforcement
agencies has given the agencies a bad image owing to their "extra-legal
operations."

Police confiscated from the arrested suspects a 45-caliber pistol marked
Auto Ordinance, with Serial Number AO396161, and a .9mm pistol marked
Armscor, with Serial Number 883827, ammunition for the firearms and P10,000
in marked money used in the operations.

Their third cohort managed to escape.

Police said during the custodial investigation that the arrested pair
turned out to be civilian agents of the PDEA. They each had a PDEA
identification card signed by one police Chief Insp. Manuel Chica, whose
designation at the PDEA, however, was not mentioned by the police.

Supt. Felizardo M. Serapio Jr., Bulacan police provincial director, said
Santos and Ong, suspected members of a kidnap-for-ransom group, and an
unidentified cohort were riding a Toyota Corolla when they abducted the
couple at 11 p.m. Sunday on the MacArthur Highway in Barangay Saluysuy,
Meycauayan.

The group released the husband and initially demanded P40,000 for the safe
release of his wife. The suspects told Galuco that the pay off should be at
the Burger Machine stall in Barangay Tabig Ilog in Marilao.

But instead of cooperating, Galuco reported the incident to the Marilao
police who immediately laid out a plan that led to the arrest of the
suspects and the rescue of Mrs. Galuco.

Serapio ordered Supt. Arnold Gunnacao, chief of the Bulacan police
intelligence and investigation branch, to dig deeper into the case to
determine the linkage of Santos and Ong with kidnapping groups operating in
Bulacan, Metro Manila and nearby provinces.