PAGADIAN CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Oct. 9, 2013) – Kidnappers have freed a Chinese trader four days after he was seized in the southern Philippine province of Zamboanga del Sur, officials said Wednesday.
Officials said the 37-year old Lee Tan, who was kidnapped on October 5, has been recovered by police forces in the village of Esperanza in Ramon Magsaysay town.
It was not immediately known how much ransom was paid by his family in exchange for his safe release, but his wife, Melfe, earlier told police the kidnappers demanded P500,000 for his freedom.
Lee was kidnapped on his way to pay a Filipino creditor in Zamboanga del Sur’s Aurora town. His Filipino wife, Melfe, has reported the kidnapping to the police in Pagadian City where the couple runs the Dong Lee store.
The woman said she spoke to her husband on his mobile phone shortly after he reached the town, but was shocked when a man phoned her to say that they kidnapped Lee. She said the trader was travelling alone in a van.
Police have recovered Lee’s van abandoned in the village of Eastern Bobongan in the town of Ramon Magsaysay. No individual or group claimed responsibility for the kidnapping. (Mindanao Examiner)
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