BANGKOK: Four Taiwanese citizens taken hostage at a Philippines hotel in the capital, Manila, were freed on Thursday after a raid by the Philippine National Bureau of Investigation. The NBI confirmed to Bikyamasr.com on Thursday that the Taiwan nationals had been held by a group believed to be members of a kidnap-for-ransom scheme in the city. NBI-RAID head agent Ross Jonathan Galicia said the rescue operation was carried out in a budget hotel in Malate, Manila. “This is a major accomplishment of the bureau as we are able to neutralise a kidnap-for-ransom syndicate whose operators are foreigners. “We would like to assure the public that we would not allow criminals, local or foreign, to conduct illicit activities under our watch,” said NBI director Nonnatus Caesar Rojas. Galicia said police received a tip off on September 4 from an employee of Hung, one of the freed hostages, that both he and his wife and business partners were abducted by several Taiwanese. The informant told the bureau agents that the kidnappers would only release the hostages if their relatives in Taiwan settled a 2 million pesos ($47,732) ransom.
