RP kidnapping spree angers Chinese

RP kidnapping spree angers Chinese

PHILIPPINES: Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo vowed on Wednesday to stop a rash of kidnappings that has angered the ethnic Chinese community and raised political pressure on her government ahead of elections.

She spoke a day after armed kidnappers snatched a two-year-old boy on his way to a Manila nursery school. It was the third high- profile abduction in two weeks and drew calls from the Chinese community for help from overseas.

"There is no need for foreign assistance because we are not dealing with transnational crime syndicates," Arroyo said in a statement. "We shall stamp out kidnapping and I seek the people's continuing trust and confidence."

Minority ethnic Chinese in the Philippines are a common target for kidnap gangs, and abductions tend to rise in the period before Christmas and ahead of elections, which are scheduled for next May. -- Reuters