WHO kidnapped the controversial and “colorful” Barangay Chairman Roland Villegas of Anonang, San Fabian?

The provincial office of the Philippine National Police said none of the law enforcement agencies operating in the province appear to know of the well-planned abduction of the barangay official whose personal career was controversial with some scrapes with the law on occasions.

Villegas was taken at gunpoint in barangay Bolasi on a road going to the Philippine Tourism Authority resort in San Fabian at about
8:30 a.m. on Tuesday, some four hours before President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s arrival in Malasiqui town in central Pangasinan for a presidential visit .
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The kidnapping, media tally showed, was the fourth high-profile incident in the province since 2001.

Nerez said witnesses had told investigators that two armed men stopped Villegas’ vehicle and dragged him to another vehicle. Another armed man drove Villegas’ Nissan Terrano, which police later found abandoned in a hilly portion of barangay Alacan in San Fabian.

“But there could be more than three of them. We cannot yet establish their actual number because for sure, they had back up,” Nerez said.

He said the armed men wore bull caps, black shades and black outfits similar to the outfits of the police’s special weapons and tactics personnel.

Nerez said that from the modus operandi alone, the kidnappers moved with precision typical of highly trained law enforcers.

“That’s why our first reaction was to contact other law enforcement units if they had a case against Mr. Roland Villegas. But as of this time, as of this hour, wala pang nagko-confirm at ang sinasabi nila, wala silang operation against Roland Villegas,” Nerez said.

At a case conference with the NBI and CIDG, Nerez said they learned that two weeks ago, Villegas’ wife received a text message telling her to warn her husband to be careful because some people were out to take him.

“But despite the warning, Mr. Villegas apparently ignored it and did not report it to the police so he could have been given ample security,” Nerez said.

Villegas, former Liga ng mga Barangay federation president and mayoralty candidate in the 2007 elections, was driving alone to Bolasi, where he was building a beach resort, when he was kidnapped.

Nerez said he was wondering why Villegas was alone at that time when he usually went out with bodyguards.

He said he had requested for an artist from the Philippine National Police national office in Camp Crame to generate a composite sketch of the armed men as seen by witnesses.