Dennis Roldan sentenced to life imprisonment

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MANILA – The Pasig City Regional Trial Court (RTC) has sentenced Dennis Roldan—Mitchell Yap Gumabao, in real life—to life imprisonment for being the mastermind in the kidnapping of a 3-year-old Chinese-Filipino boy in 2005.

Former actor and ex-Congressman Roldan was convicted, after nine years of trial, by Judge Rolando Mislang of the Pasig City Trial Court.

“Kidnapping will continue to be a perfect crime if you do not fight back, if you continue to just pay ransom, and you do not file cases … Roldan is a powerful figure with connections … (but) we have proven the case not just beyond reasonable doubt, but beyond any doubt,” Teresita Ang-See of Movement for Restoration of Peace and Order said in a report from the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

“The significance of this case is that it shows our victims that it pays to fight back. It doesn’t pay if you keep quiet,” she added.

Rowena P. San Andres and Adrian C. Domingo were also found guilty of the kidnapping, which occurred at Ortigas Center on Feb. 9, 2005.

All of them were ordered to jointly pay the victim P100,000 as civil indemnity, P100,000 as moral damages, and P100,000 as exemplary damages.

Meanwhile, Roldan’s girlfriend, Suzette Wang, who was rumored to have fled the country was ordered “archived.” Wang was the one who allegedly introduced Roldan to the victim’s family.

“I feel, of course, not happy because the decision was (unfavorable) to us,” Roldan said.