Kidnapped girl freed, another still being held captive by Sayyaf in Basilan Island

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Dec. 30, 2008) – Gunmen freed Tuesday a four-year old girl they kidnapped in the southern Filipino island of Basilan, officials said.

Officials said Andrea Diman was released at around 1 p.m. in the village called Sinulatan in Tuburan town, two days after she was kidnapped in Lamitan City by two motorcycle men.

“There was no ransom or money paid to the kidnappers and the girl is finally reunited with her family,” Nick Castro, an aide of Lamitan Mayor Roderick Furigay, told the Mindanao Examiner.

He said Furigay tapped former Tuburan Mayor Hajarun Jamiri to help in getting back the girl. “The former mayor is still influential in Tuburan and he was tapped to recover the girl without anything in return,” Castro said.

But Jamiri was linked by authorities to the bombing in the House of Representatives in November last year that killed Basilan Rep. Wahab Akbar. He denied all accusations against him.

Castro said on order of Furigay, the girl was

No other details were made available about the release of the girl, but Jamiri is a brother of Abu Sayyaf leader Nur Hassan Jamiri, who was tagged by the police and military as behind the spate of kidnappings-for-ransom in Basilan in recent months.

It was unknown whether the Abu Sayyaf was behind the kidnapping of Diman, but Castro said the girl’s family is poor.

“The kidnappers thought the girl’s family are wealthy, but there are not. We hope the kidnappings in Basilan would stop,” he said.

Diman was snatched by two men as she was playing with other children Sunday night near a park in Lamitan City, where kidnappers also snatched a nine-year old girl, Nicole Raveche, on Nov. 26.

No group or individuals claimed responsibility for the Diman kidnapping, although authorities suspect the Abu Sayyaf as behind it.Meanwhile, Raveche's kidnappers have asked six million pesos in exchange for her safe release.

Just recently, Abu Sayyaf kidnappers freed a nursing student, Joed Pilangga, after more than two months in captivity in Basilan.

The 17-year old Pilangga was kidnapped Oct. 17 in Zamboanga City and brought by boat to Basilan, where his kidnappers demanded P20 million ransoms for his safe release. Police and military tagged the Abu Sayyaf as behind the kidnapping.

Early this month, gunmen also kidnapped seven construction workers in Basilan, but freed all of them a week later after Furigay negotiated for their release.

Two more people were people were kidnapped by unidentified gunmen on December 2 near Maluso town also in Basilan, but they had been freed three days later.

Close to two dozen people had been kidnapped by suspected Abu Sayyaf militants headed by Puruji Indama and Nur Hassan Jamiri in recent months and most of them had been freed in exchange for huge ransoms.

The sudden rise in kidnappings and spate of terrorist attacks in Basilan had been blamed to ransoms collected by the Abu Sayyaf. The money had been used to purchase weapons and recruit members, according to military reports. (Mindanao Examiner)

Gunmen free 7 kidnapped construction workers in Basilan Island

Kidnapped Filipino construction workers arrive at a military camp for presentation to the media following their release Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2008 at Isabela city, the capital of the island province of Basilan in southern Philippines. Gunmen released seven construction workers they kidnapped a week ago after Philippine troops went on the offensive and took over the gunmen's hide-out on southern Basilan island, a military spokeswoman Lt. Steffani Cacho said Tuesday. (Mindanao Examiner Photo)

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Dec. 9, 2008) – Gunmen freed seven Filipino construction workers after a weeklong captivity in the hinterlands of the Basilan island in the southern Philippines, officials said on Tuesday.

Officials said the hostages had been released unharmed after a series of negotiations headed started by Lamitan City Mayor Roderick Furigay. The seven had been freed on a village in Tuburan town, said Lt. Steffani Cacho, spokesperson of the Philippine military command in Western Mindanao.

"They were released at around 10.30 p.m. in Tuburan town through the efforts of Mayor Roderick Furigay," she said, adding, no ransom was paid. Details of the negotiations were not immediately available, except that the hostages were handed over to the emissaries of Furigay.

Gunmen seized the seven people after stopping a lorry near Tuburan town on December 1. Authorities initially blamed the Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels in the kidnappings, but apparently it was carried out by a small criminal gang wanted to get ransom, other sources said.

Two more people were people were kidnapped by unidentified gunmen on December 2 near Maluso town also in Basilan island, but they had been freed three days later, said Vice Gov. Al Rasheed Sakalahul.

Two other hostages - Joed Pilangga, a nursing student snatched Oct. 17 in Zamboanga City, and a nine-year old girl seized Nov. 26 in Lamitan City - are still being held by the Abu Sayyaf, a small militant group blamed for the spate of kidnappings for ransom in Basilan and other parts of the southern Philippines.

Military offensive since last week have targeted the Abu Sayyaf, but the larger rebel group, Moro Islamic Liberation Front, had been dragged into the skirmishes after it accused government troops of attacking its positions on the island.

In retaliation, the rebels launched a series of attacks against government forces, sparking sporadic, but fierce fighting last week. On Monday, five marines were killed and two dozen more wounded in a firefight with MILF forces in Al-Barka town.

A local military commander, Marine Brig. Gen. Rustico Guerrero, accused the MILF of coddling Abu Sayyaf terrorists and vowed to step up the operation against the militants.

More than a dozen people had been kidnapped by suspected Abu Sayyaf militants headed by Puruji Indama and Nur Hassan Jamiri in recent months and most of them had been freed in exchange for huge ransoms.

Locals blamed the police and military authorities in Basilan, one of six provinces under the Muslim autonomous region, for their failure to secure the safety of the civilians. (Mindanao Examiner)

Bihag Ng Sayyaf Pinalaya, 4 Hostage Pa Rin Sa Basilan

ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / June 26, 2008) – Pinalaya diumano ng Abu Sayyaf ang isa sa limang dinukot na empleyado ng Basilan Electric Cooperative Inc., habang patuloy kahapon ang pagtugis ng mga sundalo at parak sa nasabing grupo.

Ayon sa ulat ng militar ay nabawi ng mga sundalo si Ronnie Tansiung matapos itong matagpuan sa bayan ng Tuburan nuong gabi ng Huwebes matapos itong dukutin dakong alas 11 ng umaga sa Barangay Sinulatan.

Walang ibinigay na detalye ang militar sa Basilan at Zamboanga o press release ukol sa pagkakalaya ni Tansiung. Ngunit sa ulat ng ipinasa sa Abante ay sinasabing natibo ng Basilan si Tansiung at kabilang sa tribu ng Yakan, isa sa maraming grupo ng mga Muslim sa Mindanao.

Kinilala naman ng pulisya ang mga nalalabing biktima na sina Alberto Singson at kapatid nitong si Emilberto; at ang mag-utol na Paul at Birin Herowig.

Sinabi ni Alfredo Oyao, ang manager ng Basilan Electric Cooperative, na kabilang sa mga dinukot ay isang foreman at apat na electric meter readers. Wala pa umanong natatanggap na balita si Oyao ukol sa mga bihag.

Sinisi naman ng mga awtoridad sa Abu Sayyaf at Moro Islamic Liberation Front ang nasabing pagdukot at nakilala na ang ilan sa mga lider ng armadong grupo na sina Nurhasan Jamiri at Furuji Indama.

Hindi pa malinaw ang motibo sa pagdujkot ngunit matindi ang hinalang ransom ang dahilan nito. Nuong nakaraang linggo lamang ay pinalaya ng isa Abu Sayyaf faction sa Sulu province si kidnapped ABS-CBN television Ces Drilon at cameraman nitong sina Jimmy Encarnacion at Angelo Valderama, gayun rin si Mindanao State University Prof. Octavio Dinampo kapalit ng malaking halaga ng ransom.

Mistulang binastos naman ng Abu Sayyaf si Philippine military chief Alexander Yano dahil dinukot nito ang 5 kasabay ng pahayag ng heneral na wala ng puwersa ang teroristang grupo at binansangan pa nitong bandido ang dating kinakatakutan sa Mindanao.

"We still look at them as a loose organization with some splinter groups, in fact, some of them may be conducting their own operations, and now, has degenerated into a money-making group devoid of any ideology or cause," ani Yano sa isang media forum sa Makati City. (Mindanao Examiner)

Sayyaf Releases Hostage, Holds On To 4 More In Basilan Island

BASILAN, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / June 26, 2008) – Suspected Abu Sayyaf gunmen freed one of five kidnapped workers of a rural electric company in Basilan island in the southern Philippines, military reports said.

It said Ronnie Tansiung was released late Thursday in Tuburan town, where militants seized the five earlier in the day. No details about the release of the hostage were made available by the military, except Tansiung is a native of Basilan.

Police and military identified the remaining hostages as brothers Alberto and Emilberto Singson; Paul Herowig and his brother Birin. The victims are workers of the Basilan Electric Cooperative Inc.

Alfredo Oyao, the victims’ manager, said among the hostages was a foreman and electric meter readers. Oyao said they are yet to hear from the kidnappers. The fate of the

Authorities blamed the Abu Sayyaf and members of the larger Moro Islamic Liberation Front as behind the latest kidnapping. It tagged Nurhasan Jamiri and Furuji Indama as among those who seized the workers.

The motive of the kidnapping is still unknown, but a faction of the Abu Sayyaf last week freed a kidnapped ABS-CBN television Ces Drilon and her cameramen Jimmy Encarnacion and Angelo Valderama, including a Muslim university professor Octavio Dinampo in nearby Sulu province in exchange for a huge ransom.

The latest attack coincided with the pronouncement of Philippine military chief Alexander Yano that the Abu Sayyaf, which was originally fighting for the establishment of a strict Islamic state similar to Afghanistan, has been reduced to being bandits.

“We still look at them as a loose organization with some splinter groups, in fact, some of them may be conducting their own operations, and now, has degenerated into a money-making group devoid of any ideology or cause,” Yano told a media forum in Manila. (With reports from Nonong Santiago)