SURIGAO CITY (MindaNews/29 September) — The new provincial police director of Surigao del Norte promised he will soon review and dig deeper into the case of kidnapped banker Johnson Cuiting.
In an interview at his office, Delos Santos said he will review and reassess the sworn statements of all the witnesses and will coordinate with and assist the Task Force Johnson Cuiting in all actions it would undertake which may lead to the arrest of the suspects and mastermind
in the case.
Cuiting was president of the Rural Bank of Placer Inc. at the time he was kidnapped.
Delos Santos said he will leave no stone unturned in solving the 20-month old kidnapping case.
“We are still working on that case and we are determined to do our best effort in solving the same. I know how hard this case is because this is passed on to me by my predecessors, namely, Col. David Yalong Ombao and Col. Gilbert Dela Cruz Cruz,” he explained.
Kin of the kidnapped victim urged the local police to do something to identify the culprits.
For her part, Dr. Bliss Dingal-Cuiting, wife of the victim, told MindaNews in an interview that she has asked the police to act on the case.
Although aloof to reporters, she recently consented to being quoted by media in relation to her husband’s abduction.
She said she believes her husband is still alive and is being hidden somewhere.
“I believe he is alive and is hidden somewhere else. I hope someday he will come back and reunite with us and with his employees,” she further said.
All sisters of the victim who live abroad had demanded justice for their brother.
Ross Cuiting-Sit, Ruby Cuiting-Chan, Nenita Cuiting-Carjaval, Lydia Cuiting and Josefa Cuiting-Lam had asked the local police to recover their brother dead or alive.
The sisters are now offering a reward money amounting to P2.5 million pesos for any information which may lead to the victim’s safe recovery and P200,000 for any information which may lead to the recovery of his corpse in case he is already dead.
Cuiting was abducted by four unidentified armed men in his palatial house at Ceniza Heights Subdivision, this city, in the presence of his wife and house helpers, night of January 7, 2009.
Kin of the victim feared that the case will suffer the fate of other high-profile kidnapping cases in Surigao del Norte that have remained unsolved. (Roel N. Catoto/MindaNews)
