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Reporter foils kidnap try on tourism exec Barbers, family


Philippine Tourism Authority (PTA) general manager Robert Dean Barbers and his family narrowly escaped a kidnap attempt by four gunmen along a road in Bauan, Batangas Saturday. The gunmen fled when a local reporter identified as Ben Aclan happened to pass by and took a video of the incident. Two of the suspects were a policeman and a member of the Philippine Air Force, police said. Supt. Ferdinand de Castro, Bauan police chief, said they have already arrested two of the four suspects. He identified them as PO1 Jun Virtucio and Gerry Mendoza. Police confiscated a 9mm pistol from Virtucio, 14 bullets and a cash of P 100,000. Two others remain at-large. They were identified as Virtusio’s brothers Noel, a member of the Barangay Intelligence Network in Batangas City, and Niño, a PAF technical sergeant. The Virtusios are sons of a barangay captain in San Jose town, said de Castro. De Castro said Barbers, his wife and three children were unhurt. At about 11:30 a.m. Saturday, Barbers, his wife and three children on board a Ford Explorer were on their way to Manglinaw village in Bauan town when four people riding in a Toyota Revo blocked their way and asked Barbers to step out of his vehicle. Before stepping out, Barbers said he was able to open up the windows of his car so as to get the attention of passers by that he was with his young female children ages six to 14. The men poked gun at him and asked Barbers to go with them. Barbers was without bodyguards. "I think it was kidnapping. One was not wearing a shirt. Another was only wearing a pair of shorts," Barbers told dzBB radio. Barbers said a local journalist saw what was happening and immediately took a video of the incident using a cell phone. The suspects escaped when they saw the journalist taking them on video. Barbers said his wife also took photos of the suspects using her cell phone. De Castro said Virtusio went to the police station to report the incident, a few minutes after Barbers arrived at the station to file a complaint. “Barbers immediately told us that Virtusio was one of the men who supposedly tried to abduct them," he said. Mendoza , meanwhile, was arrested when he was spotted outside the Bauan police station. The suspects’ vehicle was found in front of the house of Virtusios’ father in Barangay Lalayak, San Jose town, police said. Police also found P100, 000 cash in the vehicle and identification cards of the other suspects. -GMANews.TV

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