Singapore businessmen a kidnap risk in RP

Singapore businessmen a kidnap risk in RP

MANILA (AFP): Singapore businessmen have become a kidnap risk
in the Philippines, police said on Wednesday, but their plight
has been overshadowed by the focus on rebels holding 28 U.S. and
Filipino hostages in the south.

Four Singaporeans are reported to have been abducted since
April, but details only came to light when businessman Roger Yeo
met his armed kidnappers' ransom demands to end nine days in
captivity.

The Singapore embassy here confirmed two kidnappings involving
Singaporeans and a third, failed attempt, but it did not name the
victims or provide further details.

"We are giving priority" to halting the abductions, President
Gloria Arroyo said, announcing a "super-body" of key government
agencies to coordinate law enforcement efforts.

Arroyo on Wednesday rejected criticism that she had failed to
deliver in her first five months in power, saying her cabinet may
lack an "Einstein" but it is honest and hardworking.

Asked to comment on press observations that the government has
not made any major breakthroughs, Arroyo said she was doing her
best to lift an economy that has been ravaged by graft and
corruption.

She did not "have ambitions of making a great president," and
her main concern was to bring transparency back to governance.
"Upright citizens" with untarnished records were appointed as
cabinet ministers to help her do her job, she said.

"So maybe I do not have an Einstein in my cabinet, but I have
some pretty bright people in my cabinet," she said. "And we don't
call that a breakthrough, but it's a cabinet that is going to
bring us forward and help us solve all the problems of our
country."

National police spokesman Chief Superintendent Thompson
Lantion said on government television: "It appears that they
(kidnappers) are really targeting businessmen from Singapore."
But this was downplayed by Interior Secretary Jose Lina, who
said: "We still have to gather more details to make that
particular conclusion."

A Singapore embassy official insisted that Lantion's remarks
had been misinterpreted.

The diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the
police official told him Manila did not want to portray the
Singapore businessmen as being singled out by the kidnappers.

Lina said he and other officials would meet soon with the
Singapore envoy "to assess what has happened to some Singaporean
nationals."

Yeo was freed on Saturday after his family paid an estimated
S4300,000 (US$166,000) in ransom. He has since returned to
Singapore.

"We know who the suspects are, but we cannot pursue them
because the victim would not like to complain," said Chief
Superintendent Nestorio Gualberto, head of the police criminal
investigation division.

Lantion said: "We don't want to be alarmist here (in saying)
that foreign nationals are being targeted particularly.
"But we'd like to take precautions. We have a saying here --
forewarned is forearmed."

Singapore businessmen in the Philippines said on Wednesday
they have taken extra care, including taking armed bodygyards.
But they said they were not bothered by the threats and would
continue doing business in the country.

"Basically, kidnapings are an everyday affair here, so it
doesn't bother most Singaporeans," said businessman Christopher
Bek, a member of the Singapore-Philippines (business) Association
told the Straits Times Television.

Singapore's foreign ministry said that it had asked Manila to
ensure the safety of Singaporeans and advised its nationals to
exercise extra care and caution here.

Ethnic Chinese Filipinos and overseas Chinese are often
targeted by kidnappers in the Philippines because they are more
willing to pay a ransom than seek police help.

Filipino anti-crime groups have alleged that some rogue police
officers are involved in kidnap gangs.