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)
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