Safety fears rise as hundreds bury latest kidnap victim

More than 20 firetrucks from volunteer firefighter groups switched on their sirens and snaked their way along Manila in a bid to attract public attention as hundreds of Chinese-Filipinos buried the country's most prominent murder victim of kidnap-for-ransom syndicates in recent years.

There was mixed reaction as pall bearers lowered the coffin of Betty Sy, the 32-year-old Coca Cola executive. There was apprehension that who might be the next kidnap victim, rage over what most of them would describe as the inability of the government to curb abductions.

"Betty is the 157th victim of kidnapping this year," Teresita Ang See, of the group Citizens Against Crime and Corruption said, her figures contrasting with those of the police, which said that no more than seven people were abducted this year.

Sy's kidnappers shot her twice in the leg when she refused to go with them after they waylaid her car last Tuesday in a Manila suburb. Left to bleed to death, her body was dumped at a desolate spot while her tormentors tried to contact her relatives and demand ransom for their victim.

"Aside from the brutal way she died, what is equally enraging is the fact that ten years after such abductions became a major peace and order concern, the government is still powerless in curbing such crimes," See said.

Although the government had boasted the busting of a major kidnap syndicate last Thursday in northern Bataan, this effort did not deter kidnappers in the capital from abducting a Chinese-Filipino child in Manila the next day.

The government had been quick to blame in the past the practice of some Chinese-Filipino kidnap victims to adopt a code of silence in dealing with the abduction cases. The small-but financially influential ethnic community had been wary of reporting the cases to the police since some syndicates involved men in uniform.

But recently, police officials said kidnap-for-ransom has transcended more than being a lucrative criminal operation for some out-of-job former policemen and soldiers.

Police officials on Saturday announced that the series of high-profile crimes committed last week were "designed" to embarrass the administration of President Gloria Arroyo.

A police source said that the spate of crimes were meant to destabilise the government and, consequently, cut down the chances of Arroyo at the elections next year.

While officials bicker with authorities over the reason for the kidnappings, four other major abduction syndicates identified by the government are poised to strike again.