A 14-year-old Chinese student from an exclusive school in Taguig who was kidnapped last week was rescued by a police-military team along Macapagal Avenue, Paranaque on Tuesday night, with the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) saying it is "definite" that the Philippine offshore gaming operator (POGO) is behind this.

In a press briefing on Wednesday Interior and Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla said the team was ''a few hundred meters'' from kidnappers by the signal emitted by abductors' cellphone.

''And in that pursuit, a few minutes after, in the Paranaque area, they found a child in the middle of the road wearing a pajama and with a bandage in one of his hands. The choice was pursuing the vehicle or securing the child. Obviously the AKG (anti-kidnapping group) prioritized the safety of the child,'' said Remulla.

"We are definite that the syndicate behind the kidnapping are former operators of POGO as well", Remulla said.

The child was reunited with his father. The child was reported missing by his parents after he did not return home from a school activity.

A $20 million ransom was asked by the kidnappers at first but was reduced to $1 million. One of the fingers of child's right hand was cut because the parents refused to pay the amount, said Remulla.

The police anti-kidnapping group was able to locate the abductors through the signal from their cellphone, Philippine National Police (PNP) spokesperson Col. Randulf Tuano said.

Remulla said the perpetrators used their former bodyguards who were ex-members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and Philippine National Police (PNP) that went AWOL.

The abducted Chinese student is suspected to be from a family who were former POGO operators.

The abduction was said to be a case of "foreigner against foreigner".

"We knew that the crime was Chinese to Chinese because the communication of the parents between the kidnappers were in Chinese language through WeChat ... it is really a criminal gang as an offshoot remnants of POGO operations here", Remulla said. DMS/Marie Manalili