DLSU student hostaged by holdup suspects

(Updated 10:48 pm) Three men were arrested on Friday after allegedly robbing a branch of a courier company in Manila and taking hostage a student from the De La Salle University (DLSU) afterwards, radio and television reports said. The suspects—identified as pedicab drivers Jaylord Olivar, Nestor Basan and Randy Bucayos— allegedly declared a holdup and took P10,000 from an LBC branch along Quirino Highway in Manila at past 2 p.m. Friday, radio dzBB’s Teresa Tavares reported. After robbing the outlet, the three men crossed the street towards the DLSU campus on Taft Avenue and were pursued by patrolling police from the Manila Police District (MPD). One of the suspected robbers seized a female student as hostage, apparently to use her as “human shield" in an attempt to escape from the police, Theresa Andrada said in a report aired over GMA News “24 Oras." According to the television report, police managed to solve the hostage-taking incident 15 minutes later, with the student being released unharmed. The student, who was not identified, was brought to the school for counseling after the incident, the report said. The DLSU management, for its part, issued a statement after the hostage-taking assuring the public “that one of its primary concerns is the utmost safety of its students." —Andreo C. Calonzo/JV, GMANews.TV