Kidnapping-Related Incidents – April 2025
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PSA Consultancy recorded five (5) kidnapping-related incidents involving seven (7) victims in April 2025. Two personal dispute-related incidents accounted for 40 percent of incidents, while one incident each for child abduction, politically motivated kidnapping, and kidnap-for-ransom accounted for the remaining incidents. Based on the recorded incidents, the amount of ransom money demanded totaled PHP 500,000 (USD 8,953.35).
Of the seven (7) kidnap victims reported during the period, two were foreign victims of Chinese nationality. PSA recorded zero kidnapping incidents targeting a Western national this month. Two kidnapping incidents occurred in Metro Manila (Makati City and City of Manila), while the remaining incidents occurred in the provinces of Cavite, Sultan Kudarat, and Maguindanao del Norte.
One of the incidents recorded in April 2025 involved a Chinese woman and her Filipino companion who were abducted by Chinese suspects posing as condominium buyers. Analysts note that suspects posing as potential business partners or clients is a modus operandi that has been used by both large-scale transnational crime syndicates and smaller kidnapping groups in the Philippines. Such incidents are usually targeted and involve prolonged communication between the suspects and the victims. Conducting stringent due diligence will go a long way in mitigating the risk of these kinds of abductions.
Analysts recorded one successful rescue operation in the month of April, in response to a child abduction incident. The victim was held for less than a day prior to their rescue. Meanwhile, two of the kidnapping incidents in April resulted in the demise of the victims.
