Last Seen:

March 28, 1991

Masbate
RICO LICUP, 32, a fisherman married to Marlyn S. Licup and a resident of Sitio Umuroy, Balatucan, Mobo, Masbate, together with Noli Macadat, also a fisherman, was abducted 28 March 1991 in Sitio Umuroy, Balatucan, Mobo, Masbate. They were forcibly taken by ten fully armed men who wore masks, two of whom were later identified as CAFGU members, with other elements of the 266th PC Coy based in Brgy. Tugbo, Masbate, Masbate.

The incident happened just outside Rico's two-story house.  Rico's wife Marlyn related that around 8:00 in the evening of 28 March, when she and her 4-year-old son were about to retire for the night, she heard her husband's name being called from outside. Peeping through a hole, she made out in the dark ten masked and armed men in fatigue uniforms. The men identified themselves as "mga kasama" or NPAs.

Marlyn refused to open the door. The armed men threatened to burn down the house. Five of them entered through a ground floor window, immediately went upstairs, and ransacked the whole house searching for weapons. Not finding any, they took Marlyn's P200, two fighting cocks, seven chickens, rice, dried fish, eggs, Colgate toothpaste, and a bottle of baby oil. They asked where Rico was and said that he was a suspected NPA member. Marlyn denied this and told the armed men that Rico couldn't possibly be a rebel considering that he limps and can't even walk straight.  The armed men waited for Rico to arrive, and as they bided their time, they even ate the bread Marlyn had set aside for her son.

Meanwhile, Rico and Noli walked their way home around 12:00 midnight after a few rounds of drinks at the house of the former's parents in Brgy. Balatucan, a kilometer away from Sitio Umuroy. Upon reaching Rico's house, they were met by the armed men even before they came to the door. The armed men declared that they were arresting the two for being NPA members and tied their hands behind their backs. Helpless, the two were brought along by the armed group to an undisclosed place.

The following day, a witness identified Briones and dela Cruz as two of the armed men who abducted Rico and Noli. Also that day, Marlyn and Noli's relatives reported the abduction to Mobo Municipal Mayor, an uncle of Rico. The mayor asked for the help of the town's station commander in locating where Rico and Noli were brought by the armed group.

The station commander reported that the two men were not ever detained in his command even as he admitted learning from unspecified sources that the previous night, elements of the Tugbo detachment "captured" two men in Umuroy, adding that the "abductors could not have been NPAs."

A check with the company commander of Camp Bonny Serrano, Masbate, offered nothing. Worse, the Mobo PNP station police blotter showed no report of the incident.

Rico Licup, together with Noli Macadat, remains missing to this day.

details about their circumstances.