'Missing' Korean not kidnapped – police

CEBU CITY — A Korean feared to have been abducted in Cebu City on Tuesday night turned up safe and sound at a convenience store along V. Rama Avenue.

Police later confirmed the Korean had been drinking and spent time at a motel with a companion. The case, initially treated with alarm, turned out to be a case of overdrinking — not a crime.

Personnel from Abellana Police Station 2 under the Cebu City Police Office responded after two Koreans reported that their friend went missing following a drinking session at a bar along Mango Avenue.

The three had consumed two bottles of a local liquor when the man disappeared without telling his companions.

The two became alarmed after receiving a message from their missing friend's phone demanding P4,500 for his supposed release.

Believing he had been kidnapped, they sought police assistance. The Korean Embassy was also notified, intensifying concerns over the man's safety.

Police immediately conducted a search and tracked the missing man's mobile phone to a convenience store along V. Rama Avenue.

Officers, along with the two Korean companions, went to the location and found the man drinking with a transwoman.

Based on the police investigation, the Korean met the transwoman while drinking at the bar. After some flirting and dancing, they agreed to leave together and checked into a nearby motel without informing his friends.

During questioning, the man admitted that he was too intoxicated to realize the person he went with was a transwoman.

He said he was surprised during their intimate moment to discover that the individual was biologically male.

Despite this, he went through with the encounter and later paid P4,500, which he had asked his friends to send.

Police confirmed that no kidnapping occurred and that the message about a ransom was actually sent by the Korean himself to cover the payment.