Kidnapped US Aid Worker, 3 Others Freed In Jolo

A government soldier helps carry the bags Friday 20 Oct 2006 of four kidnapped Filipinos freed by gunmen in Jolo island in the southern Philippines. The four -- engineers Romeo Rivera, a program manager working for the United States Agency for International Development-Growth with Equity in Mindanao (USAID-GEM); and Reynaldo Rubio and Larry Bautista, of the Manila-based Terra Zyme Chemicals; and their driver, Isidro Amaramo were kidnapped Tuesday after inspecting a road construction project in Parang town. (Mindanao Examiner/Darwin Wee)

JOLO ISLAND(Juan Magtanggol / 20 Oct) – Gunmen on Friday freed all four Filipinos, including a US aid worker, kidnapped on the troubled island of Jolo , officials said.

The victims engineers Romeo Rivera, a program manager working for the United States Agency for International Development-Growth with Equity in Mindanao (USAID-GEM); and Reynaldo Rubio and Larry Bautista, of the Manila-based Terra Zyme Chemicals; and their driver, Isidro Amaramo were brought to a military hospital in Zamboanga City where doctors examined them.

The four were kidnapped on Tuesday by their own bodyguards for a still unknown reason.Troops tracking down the kidnappers spotted the four victims walking on a village near the boundaries of Parang and Indanan towns, said Colonel Reynaldo Sealana, commander of an army brigade on Jolo island.

"The kidnappers freed the hostages without ransom because of mounting military pressure," Sealana told the Mindanao Examiner.

He said the kidnappers freed the hostages before a 24-hour military ultimatum for their release was to end on Friday. He said villagers angered by the incident also threatened to seize the families and relatives of the kidnappers if they don't free the four men.

But the regional police chief Joel Goltiao told reporters that the four had escaped from their captors late Wednesday. "They were able to escape from their captor; that is what they told the police," Goltiao said.

Secy. Jesus Dureza, a Presidential peace adviser, said the four would soon be reunited with their families. "They are free again," he said.

The four men were seized Tuesday by their own bodyguards in Parang town after inspecting a Washington-funded road project near Biid village.

Sealana said soldiers were hunting down the kidnappers on the island. "There is an operation going on. Soldiers are tracking down the kidnappers," he said.

One of the freed victim said the kidnappers demanded at least P30 million ransoms in exchange for their freedom. "The kidnappers asked P20 million from me and my companion and another P10 million from Rivera," Rubio said.

Rivera's group was working on a road construction in Parang town, while Rubio and Bautista, who arrived on Tuesday from Manila, were only inspecting the project. The US Embassy in Manila has condemned the kidnappings.

A contingent of US troops is in Jolo and training local soldiers in anti-terrorism warfare.It was not immediately known whether the bodyguards had links with the Abu Sayyaf or not. The Abu Sayyaf group is active on the island and has kidnapped many Filipino and foreigners in the past in exchange for money. Some of their victims who failed to pay ransom were beheaded. (With reports from Darwin Wee and Uly Israel in Zamboanga City)