Another alleged abduction in Lapu-Lapu reported

Police Major Dexter Basirgo, chief of Pusok Police Station, says another abduction incident was reported to their office on July 27, 2023.

LAPU-LAPU CITY, Cebu—Another alleged  abduction was reported to the Pusok Police Station in Lapu-Lapu City.

This time, the victim was a 19-year-old girl who was allegedly taken while walking in Sitio Matumbo, Barangay Pusok on the evening of July 27, 2023.

This latest incident comes weeks after four minors reported that they escaped abduction in Barangay Bankal, also in Lapu-Lapu City.  

READ: Minors in Lapu-Lapu escape alleged abduction 

Police Major Dexter Basirgo, chief of Pusok Police Station, said that the victim, whose identity will be withheld for security reasons, alleged that a woman approach her while she was walking to ask her if she knew the person in the picture the woman was holding. 

The victim said the woman suddenly placed a handkerchief on the victim’s mouth. The victim believed that the handkerchief had something that made her pass out. She said she noticed later on she was loaded into a van.

When the victim woke up, she said she  was already in a remote area in Barangay Tawason, Mandaue City. She added that she also found beside her a young boy.

“When she regained consciousness, she said she noticed that a young boy was also with her, who also just regained consciousness. Immediately thereafter, they immediately run and managed to reach somewhere in Talamban (Cebu City). 

READ MORE: Lapu-Lapu police chief: Probe on alleged attempt to abduct minors ongoing

“She then asked directions to go to Lapu-Lapu City,” Basirgo said.

Basirgo said that a neighbor of the victim even informed her mother that the victim was seen walking at the first Mactan-Mandaue Bridge (Osmeña Bridge).

When the victim returned home, she was accompanied by her mother at the Pusok Police Station to report the incident.

“After that, based on the narration of the victim, I presumed that abduction really happened. That’s why I directed our WCPD (Women and Children Protection Desk) investigator to coordinate with the IDMU (Investigation and Detective Management Unit) office to conduct a thorough investigation of whether or not the incident is true or incorrect,” he added.

Did abduction really take place?

Police Lieutenant Colonel Christian Torres, chief of Lapu-Lapu City Police Office’s IDMU, however, revealed that upon investigation, they didn’t find any van entering or leaving the subdivision where the alleged abduction happened.

He said that CCTV footage they acquired at the crime scene only showed the victim walking at a corner at around 9:59 p.m.

“Naa mi nakuha footage didto nga nakita siya nga naglakaw, dayon paliko. Allegedly kadtong paingon liko niya, mao natong pag-abduct niya,” Torres said.

(We saw a footage where she was een waling into a corner. Allegedly, that was where she was abudcted.)

But police didn’t see any van leaving the subdivision. That area was considered as the only exit route of the subdivision.

READ MORE: Attempted kidnapping of young girls: Lapu-Lapu dad urges police to nail suspect

Police in Lapu-Lapu also reached out  to the Talisay Police Station since the victim alleged that the young boy she found with her was a resident of Talisay City.

However, no incident of abduction was reported to the Talisay cops.

This leaves police puzzled weather an abduction really took place or not.  

“Mao na usa ka question nato sa investigation whether or not naa bay abduction nga nahitabo,” Torres said.

(That’s one of the questions of the investigation, whether or not there was really an abduction that happened.)

Nevertheless, police will continue to investigate the incident, especially since this is the second reported in the past two weeks.

/bmjo