Kidnapped boy pins down his abductor in court

08/06/2008

Former congressman and character actor Dennis Roldan was further pinned down in his kidnapping case after his six-year-old Filipino-Chinese victim took the witness stand and positively identified him.

Roldan, Mitchell Gumabao in real life, came face to face with the child as he was identified by the boy during a hearing at the sala of Pasig Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 159 Judge Rodolfo Bonifacio.

Due to fear, the child asked the court to have his father accompany him before taking the witness stand.

The boy also identified Rowena San Andres whom she called her “bad mother” who did to him “horrible things” like feeding him without spoon and fork.

“We are not bothered by his testimony. We hope that the honorable judge will not favor his testimony. It has been three years since the kidnapping and we believe the ‘selective memory’ of the child only raised the suspicion that he was taught what to say before the court,” Atty. Orlando Salatandre Jr., Roldan’s counsel, said.

Salatandre said the child could not even remember the clothes worn by Roldan during the incident.

Salantandra of the defense panel, on the other hand, dismissed the victim’s statement as “a coached testimony.”

The victim earlier took the stand after his family met with Judge Bonifacio.

The report said the victim was accompanied by his father to the witness stand. It added he was aloof at first although he eventually warmed up to the questions posed by his lawyers.

Senior State Prosecutor Rosanne Balauag said they were satisfied with the victim’s testimony.

“The kid answered the questions properly. I think he was spontaneous, candid. But everything is up to the court,” she said.

Roldan, who was also an actor, is currently out on bail. He was charged for allegedly masterminding the kidnapping of the victim in February 2005. Jason Faustino

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