Wednesday, May 10, 2006

Suspected Sayyaf Men Seized Basilan Girl

ZAMBOANGA CITY (Zamboanga Journal / 10 May) Suspected Abu Sayyaf gunmen snatched Wednesday a nine-year old daughter of a politician in the southern Philippine island of Basilan, officials said.

Officials said Donna May Ramos, whose father is Councilor Donel Ramos, was abducted while playing her bicycle in downtown Lamitan town shortly before 4 p.m.

"The abductors fled on motorcycle toward the neighboring town of Tuburan, and we have alerted our soldiers in the area. We are helping the police track down the hostage," Brig. Gen. Raymundo Ferrer, commander of military forces in Basilan, told the Zamboanga Journal.

No group claimed responsibility for the latest abduction, but Ferrer said the two men have already been identified by the authorities and were believed to be members of the Abu Sayyaf group, blamed for the string of kidnappings for ransom and terrorism in the southern region.

Police in Basilan said the two men originally seized Ramos and an unidentified boy, but he was able to escape. "The boy escaped and the two men fled with the girl. We are still checking the identity of the boy. He could shed some light about this incident," said Supt. Clifford Gairanod.

Another faction of the Abu Sayyaf is still holding a kidnapped pharmacy owner Bren Vergarra, 41, in Jolo island. His 70-year old mother, Caridad, who was also kidnapped April 12, was freed two weeks later. The kidnappers originally demanded two million pesos ransom in exchange for the victim's safe release.

The Abu Sayyaf group is listed in the US foreign terror list and Washington has offered as much as $10 million bounty for the capture of its leader Khadaffy Janjalani, who masterminded the 2001 kidnapping of three American citizens in Palawan island in central Philippines and later killed two of them.

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