Kidnapped Zamboanga City trader freed in Basilan Island

A photo released to the regional newspaper, the Mindanao Examiner, by Basilan provincial deputy governor Al Rasheed Sakalahul shows freed Zamboanga City trader Vicente Barrios shortly after his freedom Saturday, August 21, 2010. With Barrios are Basilan provincial deputy governor Al Rasheed Sakalahul (left) and Basilan military chief Brigadier General Eugenio Clemen. (Mindanao Examiner)

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Aug. 22, 2010) – Kidnappers free an elderly local trader after two months in captivity in the southern Philippines, officials said Sunday.

Officials said Vicente Barrios, who was kidnapped while traveling at sea in Zamboanga City, was released late Saturday afternoon in the village of Bohe Mangal in Sumisip town in Basilan, one of five provinces under the Muslim autonomous region.

“He is so weak and frail and could hardly walk, but the good thing here is that Vicente Barrios was freed unharmed,” said Al Rasheed Sakalahul, the provincial deputy governor.

He said villagers contacted him late Saturday to say that an old man was spotted near the riverbank of Bohe Mangal. “They told me the old man could not speak our dialect and that he is so weak, so I sent my nephew to see who this man was, and the poor man told my nephew that he is Vicente Barrios and we secured him right away,” Sakalahul said.

Sakalahul said the Barrios, bearded and frail, was alone when found by villagers. “He was only carrying a cane and his name, date of his kidnapping and a name of his captor a certain Commander Alex were engraved in that old cane,” he told the Mindanao Examiner.

No group or individual claimed responsibility for the kidnapping and officials would not say if ransom was paid by the old man’s family to the gang, but the kidnappers had demanded at least five million pesos in the past in exchange for Barrios’ freedom.

Police said Barrios, whose family maintains fish cages off Zamboanga City, was abducted by gunmen after he was intercepted at sea.

The abduction occurred a day after police commandos, backed by soldiers killed one of three gunmen tagged as behind the April 4 kidnapping of Swiss-Filipino Charlie Reith, 72, in Zamboanga City. Reith was also freed weeks later after private negotiators allegedly paid ransom to the kidnappers.

Kidnappings-for-ransom in Zamboanga City were not uncommon. Many foreigners and wealthy traders had been kidnapped in the past and released after their family paid huge ransom. (With a report from Jung Francisco)

Sayyaf executes 3 kidnapped victims in South RP

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / June 5, 2010) – Three Filipino men kidnapped by Abu Sayyaf militants had been executed in the restive province of Basilan, where security forces are pursuing the terrorist group tied to al-Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiya, officials said.

Officials said the trio - Claudio Mananita, Rolando Francisco and Dariel Quintella – were kidnapped on May 27 by Abu Sayyaf gunmen headed by Puruji Indama. Their bodies were discovered by civilians on Saturday in Sukaten village in Sumisip town.

“The bodies were discovered at around 9.45 in the morning today and there is an ongoing operation against the kidnappers,” said Brigadier General Eugenio Clement, commander of military forces in Basilan, one of five provinces under the troubled Muslim autonomous region in Mindanao.

The kidnappers executed the trio by musketry after their families failed to pay some three million pesos ransom demanded by the Abu Sayyaf, blamed for the spate of terrorism and killings in the southern Philippines.

Indama’s group was also behind many kidnappings in Zamboanga City and Basilan last year and tagged as behind the series of attacks on government troops in the province.

In April, two government soldiers were wounded in a clash with the Abu Sayyaf in Basilan’s Sumisip town after militants detonated bombs in Isabela City, the provincial capital, and sprayed automatic gunfire on fleeing villagers that left dozens of people dead and wounded. (Mindanao Examiner)

2 Navy Seals Killed In Basilan Clash

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / December 30, 2009) – Two members of an elite Philippine Navy unit were killed in a clash with gunmen in the southern province of Basilan, where security forces are battling Abu Sayyaf militants, officials said Wednesday.

Officials said the fighting occurred in the coastal village of Kandiis in the town of Muhammad Ajul late Tuesday after soldiers who were in several rubber boats came under fire from about 20 gunmen under Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebel Tanad Nasalun.

“The attack on the soldiers sparked a gun battle that killed Lieutenant Christopher Pantaleon and Petty Officer 3 Almario Manalili. Another sailor Reynan Sumalinog was wounded in the fighting,” said Rear Admiral Alexander Pama, the regional navy chief.

He said the soldiers, who are members of the Special Warfare Group, was on a security patrol after receiving intelligence reports that Abu Sayyaf forces under Nurhasan Jamiri and Puruji Indama were in the area.

The Abu Sayyaf and the larger Moro Islamic Liberation Front are both actively operating in Basilan and had been previously linked by the police and military to many kidnappings-for-ransom in the province.

Pama has ordered troops to hunt down the attackers. “There is an ongoing operation,” he said. “Our operation in the area is to prevent terrorism and neutralize the terrorists; and to recover innocent people being held by the Abu Sayyaf.”

Marine Brigadier General Eugene Clemen, commander of military forces in Basilan, said the attackers apparently escaped and are being hunted by soldiers. “We are tracking them down,” Clemen, who was leading the operation in Mohammad Ajul town, said.

But the MILF said Tanad Nasalun, whose real name is Tanad Hajji Yunos, is a legitimate commander of the rebel group which is currently negotiating peace with Manila.

“We will let the cease-fire committees of the MILF and the Philippine government investigate the clashes to prevent the escalation of hostilities in Basilan,” Eid Kabalu, a senior MILF leader, said.

He said there were reports that clashes between Yunos’ group and government forces erupted Wednesday in Sinulatan village in Tuburan town near Muhammad Ajul. But the military said soldiers clashed with Abu Sayyaf militants under Montong Pula. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

The Abu Sayyaf is holding two Chinese citizens Zi Shun Lu, alias Oscar Lu, 51; and Bo Shung Tan, who goes by the name Michael Tan, 27, both from Guangzhou province. A third hostage, Filipino plywood factory worker, Mark Singson, was beheaded recently in Basilan after his family and employer, Hitech Wood Craft Corporation in Maluso town, failed to pay P1.5 million ransom. Some 20 gunmen disguised as soldiers raided the factory on November 10 and seized the trio.

The Abu Sayyaf is also holding Donald John Capili, 19, who was kidnapped on August 27 in Zamboanga del Norte’s Liloy town and brought to Basilan by boat. Capili is a grandson of former Liloy town mayor Belchu Uy. (Mindanao Examiner)