Kidnapper nabbed in Kalinga after getting ransom from bank

TABUK, Kalinga – An amateur kidnapper was jailed here after she was caught red-handed with the ransom money in a bank.

Reina Tolentino Mananggan, 27, of Barangay Guilayon, Pasil town, Kalinga was caught when policemen followed her to the bank where she withdrew the P10,000 ransom.
Senior Supt. Severino Cruz, Kalinga police director, said the lady-kidnapper earlier took hostage two-year-old Aaron and 9-month-old Caryn together with their grandmother Choleta Villapir.

Managgan reportedly demanded that the children’s parents – Jojo and Sheryl Libayne –send the money through the Western Union Bank in Tabuk.

Cruz said on May 15, the Libayne couple of Binan, Laguna reported to police and the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group that Mananggan, their family friend, went with the grandmother and two kids to a mall in Laguna.

After several hours, Mananggan sent them a message via cellular phone asking for P800, 000 in exchange for the three’s release.

Mananggan reportedly ordered the couple to send the money via the Western Union Bank branch in Tabuk town Kalinga.

Authorities from the Laguna police, Anti-Crime Emergency Response and Kalinga police conducted a 24-hour monitoring of the suspect in the bank.

When she was caught at the bank on May 16, she admitted she left the three at the Santiago City police station in Isabela province.

Cruz said policemen were told by Managgan that she was a relative of her victims when she was arrested in Isabela while enroute to Kalinga after the grandmother shouted for help.