Security forces battled kidnappers in Zamboanga City

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Pentagon Gang, Sabit sa Cotabato Kidnapping

COTABATO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Feb. 19, 2009) – Isinabit ng mga awtoridad kahapon ang Pentagon Gang na siyang nasa likod diumano ng pagdukot sa isang negosyanteng Tsinoy at ng anak nito sa Cotabato City.

Sampung milyon pisong ransom umano ang hinihingi ng mga idnappers kapalit ni Wilson Tan at anak na si Jennifer. Dinukot ang mga ito sa kanilang bahay kamakalawa.

Sinabi ng pulisya na ang Pentagon Gang ang nasa likod nito, ngunit iginigiit naman ng militar na Moro Islamic Liberation Front ang dumukot sa mag-ama dahil armado umanop ng B40 anti-tank rocket ang isang kidnapper.

Itinanggi ito ni Eid Kabalu, isang lider na MILF, at sinabing walang kinalaman ang rebeldeng grupo sa pagdukot at katunayan umano ay tumutulong ito sa paghahanap sa dalawang bihag.

“Wala kaming kinalaman diyan at labag iyan sa Islam. Sa katunayan nga ay tumutulong pa kami sa paghahanap sa mga biktima,” ani Kabalu sa Mindanao Examiner. (Mindanao Examiner)

Kidnappers demand P6 million for three hostages in Southern Philippines

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Jan. 24, 2009) – Kidnappers holding three government teachers on Saturday demanded P6 million ransoms in exchange for the safe release of the hostages, the victims families said.

Kidnappers have allowed the hostages to phone their families and to tell them to raise the money. “They are asking P6 million for all the hostages or two million pesos for each of them. Where are we going to get the money to pay them? We are poor,” a brother of one of the hostages said.

The hostages told their families that they are being held on a mountainous area of Basilan island, just several nautical miles south of Zamboanga City, where they had been kidnapped on Friday.

Four gunmen intercepted a motor boat carrying 10 teachers in the middle of the sea off Zamboanga City and seized the trio. The teachers, Freires Quizon, Janette delos Reyes and Rafael Mayorada, were returning to Zamboanga City from Sacol island when they were intercepted shortly before 8 a.m.

Authorities said the government has a strict no-ransom policy and ruled out payments of ransom to the kidnappers.

No group claimed responsibility for the abductions, but police and military previously blamed the Abu Sayyaf and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front for the spate of kidnappings in Zamboanga City and Basilan island.

But copycat attacks had also been carried out by criminal gangs from Basilan victimizing innocent civilians in Zamboanga City in an effort to raise money from ransom collected for the purchase of weapons and to finance future kidnappings. (Mindanao Examiner)

RP Police Captures 5 Kidnappers In South

DAVAO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 16 Jul) – Police paraded five suspected kidnappers, including a policeman, who were arrested in separate operations in Davao City in the southern Philippines.

The five men -- PO2 Kit Michael Sanz, 28, of the Mintal police station; Petronio Ali, Jr., 41; Marvin Digamon Booc, 28; Angelito Froilan, 50, and Wendel Asentista – were charged in connection with the kidnapping of a wealthy gas depot owner Edgar Barroso here.

Barroso, kidnapped on July 7 inside his office, was rescued by policemen after killing four of his captors four days later in a raid on a hideout in Davao City.

The kidnappers demanded P10 million from Baroso’s family. Two of those killed were identified as Senior Police Officer 2 Jaime Telebangco, of the Regional Mobile Group, and Jessie Muit, a former army soldier.

Local Mayor Rodrigo Duterte lauded the police for the rescue operation and warned other criminal syndicate members that they will suffer the same fate.

Duterte was also present when the five suspects were presented during a press conference at a police camp here. The men, he said, belong to the Balbacua Gang, blamed for other kidnappings-for-ransom in the southern Philippines. (Romy Bwaga)

4 Kidnappers Killed, Hostage Rescued In South RP

Three of four suspected kidnappers are killed during a rescue operation in Davao City in southern Philippines that liberated a gas depot owner. (Mindanao Examiner Photo Service/Romy Bwaga)

DAVAO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 10 Jul) – Philippine police killed four suspected kidnappers, including a policeman and a former soldier, in a successful rescue mission that freed a wealthy gas depot owner.

Police on Wednesday said the four were shot dead in a firefight at a hideout in Davao City and that Edgar Baroso, who was kidnapped July 7 inside his office, was rescued safely.

The kidnappers demanded P10 million from Baroso’s family. Two of those killed were identified as Senior Police Officer 2 Jaime Telebangco, of the Regional Mobile Group, and Jessie Muit, a former army soldier. Their companions remain unidentified, police said.

Local Mayor Rodrigo Duterte lauded the police for the rescue operation and warned other criminal syndicate members that they will suffer the same fate.

Duterte also inspected the hideout of the kidnappers shortly after the fight.

He said Baroso’s wife was negotiating with the kidnappers for the release of the hostage when security forces stormed the hideout. (Romy Bwaga)