Ransom Paid For 4 Jolo Hostages?

Philippine Army Lt. Gen. Eugenio Cedo, center, speaks at a news conference Saturday 21 Oct 2006 in Zamboanga City, as he presents 4 freed kidnapped Filipino engineers to journalists. Cedo tags the Abu Sayyaf as behind the kidnapping of the four men, one of them, engineer Romeo Rivera, 4th from left, who works for the United States Agency for Internatioanal Development-Growth for Equity in Mindanao (USAID-GEM). (Mindanao Examiner)

JOLO ISLAND (Mindanao Examiner / 22 Oct) – An unspecified amount of ransom was believed paid to kidnappers in the restive southern Philippine island of Jolo in exchange for the freedom of four Filipino hostages, a military source said Sunday.

The four men, 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 recovered by troops on Friday, two days after their own native bodyguards kidnapped them while inspecting a Washington-funded road project in the town called Parang.

Philippine Army Lt. Gen. Eugenio Cedo later tagged the Abu Sayyaf group as behind the kidnapping and identified three of the captors as brothers Anni and Iting Sailani and Bong Iskandal (other reports say Sakandal).

Colonel Reynaldo Sealana, commander of an army brigade on Jolo island, said the four had been freed without ransom.

“The kidnappers freed the hostages without ransom because of mounting military pressure,” Sealana said.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.

The source said private negotiators allegedly paid ransom in exchange for the four men. The ransom payment was sanctioned by provincial government officials, the source claimed.

But the island’s governor Benjamin Loong said the hostages escaped after their captors fell asleep. “The hostages really escaped from the kidnappers,” he told the Mindanao Examiner.

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.

The military said troops were pursuing the kidnappers, who had been implicated in the spate of killings of soldiers and civilians, including Filipino news photographer Gene Boyd Lumawag two years ago, on Jolo island, about 950 km south of Manila. (Mindanao Examiner)