Philippines: ex-US Marine’s child freed
MANILA, Philippines Kidnappers have freed uninjured a retired U.S. Marine’s 19-year-old daughter a day in the rear of snatching her, police said Thursday.
Chief Superintendent Ricardo Padilla said it was unclear if Cristina Loyola’s family paid the $68,000 ransom that her captors demanded.
She was freed Monday not far from her home in the resort city of Tagaytay, southern of Manila, a day after she and her Filipino-American father, Ver Loyola, were seized, he said.
The kidnappers freed the 71-year-old father three hours afterward the pair were taken hostage.
Police said four gunmen barged into the Loyolas’ domicile, tied up his mate and maid, then drove away with him and his daughter in the family car.
They took two cell phones, jewelry worth $1,570 and $1,900 in coin, and demanded the ransom.
“We’re still conducting follow-up operations to prove to be identical and arrest the suspects,” related Padilla, the regional police chief.
Kidnappings for ransom are common in the Philippines, end occur other often in the violence-torn south.
Police officials uttered they have neutralized most kidnapping gangs in Manila and nearby provinces.
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