The policeman being linked to the abduction of a Korean businessman in Angeles City, Pampanga, sought protection from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Sunday, days after the Philippine National Police launched a manhunt against him.
NBI Public Information Office Chief Nick Suarez said that according to lawyer Roel Bolivar, Task Force Against Illegal Drugs head, SPO3 Ricky Sta. Isabel went to the NBI to seek protective custody “because he feels safe under the watch of the NBI”.
Suarez said Sta. Isabel was placed “under custody, but not detained,” since yesterday.
He will stay at the NBI pending instruction from the PNP.
Sta. Isabel, however, chose not to divulge anything about the allegations hurled at him.
Sta. Isabel was identified as one of the alleged abductors of businessman Jee Ick-Joo, 53.
The Korean was allegedly abducted by policemen during a drug raid on their residence on Arayat Street in Friendship Plaza Subdivision, Angeles City, Pampanga, on October 18, 2016.
Last Thursday, the victim’s wife, Choi Kyung-Jin, surfaced at the NBI to seek help for the recovery of her husband.
She offered a reward money of P100,000 to anyone who can give information on the whereabouts of the victim.
It was reported that aside from kidnapping, the armed men also took the victim’s personal belongings, including pieces of jewelry and their passports. They also took Jee’s black Ford Explorer.
According to Choi, the kidnappers asked her to produce P8 million in exchange for her husband. The ransom went down to R5 million which they later gave the kidnappers. (BETHEENA KAE UNITE)