Another suspect in the kidnap-slaying of a Filipino-Chinese was arrested in Metro Manila, the Philippine National Anti-Kidnapping Task Force (NAKTF) said Monday.

NAKTF spokesman Danilo Servando said that the suspect, identified as Zosimo Lauzon, was captured on Sunday by the task force in coordination with police's Anti-Crime Emergency Response.

Servando said that Lauzon is a leader of the Waray-Waray kidnap-for-ransom group and has been included in NAKTF's list of wanted kidnapping leaders with a 1-million reward on head.

Lauzon was the mastermind in the kidnapping of Betty Chua-Sy, a Coca-cola executive, who was abducted in the capital on Nov. 17 last year, he added.

So far, according to the spokesman, at least 10 suspects have been arrested for suspected involvement into the Chua-Sy kidnap-slaying which the Filipino-Chinese strongly denounced, some of whom have already confessed their roles in the crime.

Apart from the Chua-Sy's death, Lauzon was also suspected of being behind around 10 other kidnapping cases.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo earlier this month declared that the kidnapping rate in the country has reached an all-time low with no single abduction reported during the last three months.

Arroyo commended the NAKTF led by former defense secretary Angelo Reyes for its role in the effort since the creation of the anti-crime body last year.

Arroyo cited Reyes for leading a "good team" and choosing a "good panel of advisers" mostly from concerned anti-crime advocates and the business community, describing them as "the people who really know the problem and the people who know how to get about solving it."

The president also credited ordinary citizens, businessmen and non-government organizations for helping the government bring down the kidnapping incidents in the country.

Source: Xinhua