Police in Cagayan de Oro cite drug war as defense in kidnapping case.

A group of policemen in Cagayan de Oro, Philippines, were found guilty of kidnapping and beating a former overseas Filipino worker, Enrique “Eking” Fernandez III, in a rural village house in 2016. The incident was caught on CCTV footage, which showed Fernandez struggling against his abductors. Despite the footage, the policemen claimed the victim “voluntarily” went with them and that it was an arrest made as part of the government’s drug war. The policemen were sentenced to at least 40 years’ imprisonment and ordered to jointly pay the victim’s family P350,000 in damages. Fernandez remains missing, and the reason for his abduction has never been established in court. His family suspects the kidnapping was a failed case of kidnapping for ransom.