Dennis Roldan gets life for kidnapping boy

The Pasig City Re­gional Trial Court on Tuesday found actor and former Que­zon City representative Dennis Roldan guilty of kidnapping a three-year-old boy in 2005. Presiding judge Rolando Mis­lang of local court’s Branch 167 ordered Roldan’s imme­diate incarceration at the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlipa City. He has been out on bail since he was charged nine years ago.

Life imprisonment was imposed on Roldan, whose real name is Mitchell Guma­bao, and co-accused Adrian Domingo for abducting the Filipino-Chinese boy.

The cases against Roldan’s co-accused San An­dres and Romeo Orcajada meanwhile, were terminated due to their death before Tuesday’s decision. Suzette Wang, alleged co-conspirator in the abduc­tion, was also ordered arrest­ed.

In media interviews following the kidnap­ping, Roldan, who is also a Christian min­ister, had denied the charges, saying he was mistaken for an­other suspect.

A witness from a telecommu­nications company, however, testified that Roldan’s mobile phone contained messages from the victim’s mother pleading the kidnap­pers to accept the P2.6-million ransom as they would not be able to raise the P200-million ran­som demand.

Roldan re­cently starred in GMA Network’s “My Destiny” series, which premiered last June.(C.Diola, PS)