Kidnappers free trader in Cotabato City

KIDAPAWAN CITY – A Filipino-Chinese businessman who was abducted in Maguindanao province last Sunday has been freed by his captors, but police refused to confirm if ransom was paid. Rodolfo Chio, 61, owner of a gasoline station in Poblacion in Datu Piang town, was reunited with his family at 6 a.m. Wednesday. Police said he was released in Cotabato City. Chio was snatched at gunpoint while tending to his business Sunday noon and was reportedly brought to a marshland in Maguindanao. Chief Superintendent Wilfredo Dangane, chief of the Cotabato City police, confirmed Chio’s release but refused to give other details. He just told the media here that Chio was freed along Don E. Sero Street in Cotabato City. Unconfirmed reports said Chio’s family paid the kidnappers some P6 million in exchange for his safe release. Initial police reports said a certain Datu Tungal and two of his men identified as Kalbu Saguili and Renoh were behind the abduction. – Malu Cadelina Manar/KBK, GMANews.TV