Kidnapped Resort Owner Freed In Southern Philippines

COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / September 21, 2008) – Kidnappers freed a beach resort owner after more than two weeks in captivity in the southern Philippines, reports said.

Reports said Perfecto Martinez, who was seized September 9 in Mindanao, was released before sunrise in Cotabato City. It was unknown whether his family paid ransom or not, but the kidnappers had demanded at least ten million pesos for his safe release.

Lt. Col. Julieto Ando, a regional army spokesman, said Martinez owned the El Bimbo Resort in Datu Odin Sinsuat town in Shariff Kabunsuan, one of six provinces under the restive Muslim autonomous region.

Ando said Martinez was driving his car when gunmen flagged down the vehicle and forcibly took him. Although no group claimed responsibility for the kidnapping, authorities suspect the Pentagon Gang and rogue members of the larger Moro Islamic Liberation Front were behind it.

Last month, gunmen also kidnapped a Filipino doctor, Milagros Yap, in Cotabato City near Shariff Kabunsuan town, but security forces rescued her after killing one the captors in a running gun battle. (With a report from Mark Navales)

Search Continues For Kidnapped Mindanao Resort Owner

Police inspect the get-away car used by gunmen who kidnapped a resort owner Perfecto Martinez in Datu Odin Sinsuat town in Maguindanao province in the Muslim autonomous region. (Mindanao Examiner Photo / Ferdinandh Cabrera)

COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / September 11, 2008) – Police continue to search for a kidnapped resort owner in the southern Philippines.

Gunmen seized Tuesday Perfecto Martinez, owner of the El Bimbo Resort, in Datu Odin Sinsuat town in Shariff Kabunsuan, one of six provinces under the Muslim autonomous region.

Police have found the get-away car used by the gunmen, but there were no signs of the kidnapped victim. The gunmen allegedly demanded ten million pesos ransom from the hostage’s family in exchange for his safe release, police said.

Martinez was driving his car when gunmen flagged down the vehicle and forcibly took him.

Last month, gunmen also kidnapped a Filipino doctor, Milagros Yap, in Cotabato City near Shariff Kabunsuan town, but security forces rescued her after killing one the captors in a running gun battle. (Ferdinandh Cabrera and Mark Navales)

Resort Owner Kidnapped In Southern Philippines

COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / September 9, 2008) - Gunmen seized Tuesday a wealthy resort owner in Mindanao island in the southern Philippines, security officials said.

Officials said four gunmen seized Perfecto Martinez, owner of the El Bimbo Resort in Datu Odin Sinsuat town in Shariff Kabunsuan, one of six provinces under the Muslim autonomous region.

“There is an ongoing operation to track down the victim. Police and military forces are on the move to locate the resort owner,” Lt. Col. Julieto Ando, a spokesman for the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, told the Mindanao Examiner.

Martinez was driving his car when gunmen flagged down the vehicle and forcibly took him, according to Ando.

Ando said no group claimed responsibility for the latest kidnapping, but previous abductions had been largely blamed to the Pentagon Gang and rogue members of the larger Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

Last month, gunmen also kidnapped a Filipino doctor, Milagros Yap, in Cotabato City near Shariff Kabunsuan town, but security forces rescued her after killing one the captors in a running gun battle. (Mindanao Examiner)