Philippines kidnap victim found dead

A Coca-Cola executive in the Philippines has been found shot dead after a suspected botched kidnap attempt, police said.

President Arroyo has set up a task team against kidnapping

The body of Betty Sy, 32, a Chinese-Filipino, was found on Tuesday wrapped in a blanket and stuffed in a trash bag near the seafront in southern Manila, radio reports quoted police as saying.

The dead woman, a finance manager of Coca-Cola Export Corp, was abducted by unknown men on Monday, according to reports.

Company sources confirmed to AFP that Sy’s body had been found. Radio reports said she was shot twice in the right leg.

Bloodstains were found in her abandoned sports utility vehicle in northern Manila where she was last seen, a newspaper report said.

Chinese Filipino community leader Teresita See, who leads an anti-kidnap watchdog group, expressed concern on Tuesday over the rise in kidnappings this year, most of them from her ethnic group.

More than 100 people have been kidnapped up to October, with one victim being snatched every three days, she said on local television.

The figure is slightly higher than the 83 abductions stated by Angelo Reyes, the recently appointed head of a government task force against kidnapping, set up by President Gloria Arroyo, following concerns expressed by the Chinese Filipino community.

The official figure reflects a 31.7% jump in kidnappings from January to October last year.

Source: AFP