I have lay overed many times in MNL; not the safest of places and I am always wary of venturing into unfamiliar places, being prewarned by fellow pilots and our station manager.
In bbratuse's case it is claimed that it happened after immigration and security checks at NAIA; it had to be a superbly and meticulously planned operation possibly with the collusion of insiders. The ransom must have been planned to be very large sum; kudos to bbratuse to have only parted with $50,000...must be really result of deft and shrewd negotiation.
This happening to people with such close ties to Filipinos who are so keenly aware of such crimes is indeed disturbing and mystifying. NBI, Avsecom and all the relevant authorities must really check this out!