ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Feb. 04, 2009) – Former Moro rebels snatched two people in the southern Philippine province of Basilan, where kidnappers are still holding six more hostages.
Police said the hostages are employees of the Kasanyangan Foundation Inc. which is engage in micro-finance in Basilan, several nautical miles south of Zamboanga City.
The victims, Leah Patris and Ahmad Ilang, were with another employee, Nasra Mudjain, on a motorcycle when three gunmen intercepted them at around 6 p.m. Tuesday in the village of Upper Benengbengan in Sumisip town, police said.
Mudjain managed to escape and reported the abduction to the police.
“The trio were heading to Maluso town after collecting more than P50,000 from clients in Sumisip, when gunmen seized them,” said Senior Superintendent Salik Macapantar, Basilan police chief.
He said police forces were sent to Sumisip to track down the kidnappers. “There is an ongoing operation and we are closely coordinating with the military to track down the kidnappers and their hostages,” he said.
Macapantar tagged former Moro National Liberation Front rebels headed by Commander Abugao as behind the kidnapping.
Unidentified gunmen last week also snatched a nine-year old boy, Chester Gruta, and Eleazar Gumera, 45, in Basilan’s Lamitan City.
A bakery owner Eliseo Hablo and three government teachers Freires Quizon, Janette delos Reyes and Rafael Mayorada – all kidnapped in Zamboanga City by armed men were also taken to Basilan.
The group holding the teachers has demanded P6 million for the freedom of the hostages.
More than a dozen people had been kidnapped in Basilan and Zamboanga City in recent months and most of those freed had paid millions of pesos in ransoms. (Mindanao Examiner)
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