Singapore businessmen have become a kidnap risk in Manila, the Philippines police said Wednesday, but their plight has been largely hidden by the focus on Muslim rebels holding 28 US and Filipino hostages in the south.
In the past two months four Singaporeans have been abducted, but details only came to light when businessman Roger Yeo met his armed kidnappers' ransom demands to end nine days in captivity.
"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 against the kidnapping menace.
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.
"We're not ready to answer that," he said. "We still have to gather more details to make that particular conclusion."
Lina said he and other officials would meet soon with the Singapore ambassador "to assess what has happened to some Singaporean nationals." -- MANILA (AFP)
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