Bomb explodes near Basilan mayor's house

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / January 19, 2010) - An improvised explosive was detonated late Tuesday near the house of a local mayor in Basilan province in the southern Philippines, reports said.

Reports said the bomb went off several meters from the house of Lamitan City mayor Roderick Furigay. No group or individual claimed responsibility for the blast, but Basilan is hotbed of Abu Sayyaf terrorism.

It was unknown if the Abu Sayyaf, tagged by the military and police in previous bombings, was involved in the latest attack. But police said three days before the blast, the Abu Sayyaf headed by Furiji Indama, threatened to detonate bombs and stage kidnappings-for-ransom in Lamitan.

Security officials did not say what kind of explosive was used in the attack or whether the mayor was the target of the bombing. The attack occurred on the eve of the mayor's annual state of the city address.

"Bomb experts are still trying to determine the kind of explosive used in the attack," said Senior Superintendent Antonio Mendoza, the provincial police chief. "We have stepped security in Lamitan and other parts of the province; there are more checkpoints and roadblocks and added foot patrol, especially at night."

He said villagers saw two men on a motorcycle fleeing the area before the blast. "We have witnesses who saw two young men on a motorcycle fleeing before the explosion," he told the Mindanao Examiner.

Security forces were fighting Abu Sayyaf militants in Basilan, whose group authorities said is tied to al-Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiya terror networks. (Mindanao Examiner)

Abu Sayyaf hostage freed in southern Philippines

ISABELA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Apr. 01, 2009) – Kidnappers freed a nine-year old boy on Wednesday after two months in captivity in the southern Filipino province of Basilan, officials said.

Officials said Chester Gruta was released to negotiators sent by Lamitan City Mayor Roderick Furigay in the town of Mohamad Adjul shortly before 4 p.m.

“There was no ransom paid for the freedom of the boy. This was the result of long negotiations with the kidnappers,” Furigay’s aide, Nick Catsro, told reporters.

He said the boy was reunited with his family and will be brought to Zamboanga City for a medical examination. “Mayor Furigay is happy with the release of the boy,” he said.

Castro did not name the negotiators, but said Furigay tapped them to seek the freed of Gruta, who was kidnapped while buying a bottle of vinegar at a store in Lamitan City.
Police linked the Abu Sayyaf group to the kidnapping of the boy.

The group is also holding three government teachers Quizon G. Freires, 28; Janette C. Delos Reyes, 29; and Rafael L. Mayonado, 24, kidnapped in January in Zamboanga City and a lending firm collector Leah Patris, seized near Basilan’s Maluso town in February and a Sri Lankan national, Umar Jaleel, a member of the international peace advocate group called Nonviolent Peaceforce, who was kidnapped in February 13 in Lamitan City.

The kidnappers demanded millions of pesos in ransom for the safe release of the hostages. (Mindanao Examiner)

Gunmen free remaining kidnapped victim in Basilan island

ISABELA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Dec. 31, 2008) – Kidnappers freed a nine-year old girl late Wednesday after more than a month in captivity in Basilan island in the southern Philippines, officials said.

Officials said Nicole Raveche, seized by gunmen Nov. 26 in Lamitan City, was released in the village of Languyan in Tuburan town at around 10 p.m. after a series of negotiations by local government officials and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels.

“The girl is now with her family and we are glad it’s finally over. Many people helped in the negotiations for the safe release of the girl,” said Nick Castro, an aide to Lamitan City Mayor Roderick Furigay, who heads the local Crisis Management Committee.

Other sources said Raveche’s family paid an unspecified amount of money to the kidnappers for the girl’s “board and lodging.” The kidnappers originally demanded six million pesos ransom.

On Tuesday, gunmen also freed a kidnapped four-year old girl, Andrea Diman, in Tuburan town, two days after she was snatched in Lamitan City.

Furigay also negotiated for the girl’s safe release. No ransom was paid for her freedom, the mayor said. A former mayor of Tuburan town, Hajarun Jamiri, helped Furigay secure the release of Diman.

But the military has claimed credit for the girl’s release, saying, the kidnappers were freed because of the ongoing offensive against Abu Sayyaf militants in Basilan.

Just recently, Abu Sayyaf kidnappers also released a kidnapped 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, which was used to purchase more weapons and recruit new members. (Mindanao Examiner)

Filipino girl seized in Basilan Island

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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)

Philippine Soldiers Detonate Powerful IED In Basilan

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Sept. 26, 2008) – The Philippine military detonated Friday a powerful homemade bomb in Lamitan City in the southern province of Basilan, officials said Friday.

Officials said the bomb was left near a grocery store in downtown Lamitan and detonated by soldiers late Thursday. The blast was so powerful that it damaged the steel shutter of the store and wounded one person who was hit by shrapnel.

The explosion left a shallow crater more than a meter wide on the road where the improvised explosive, constructed with a cellular phone, was detonated.

Officials said the bomb was assembled from TNT and the cell phone as an initiator to set off explosion. Instead of the phone ringing, it sends the power to a blasting cap.
“Mayor Roderick Furigay has appealed to residents to stay calm and vigilant,” his executive assistant, Nick Castro, said.

Castro said the foiled bombing coincided with the celebration of the tourism week in Lamitan.
“It is sad to think that while we are working hard to promote tourism and bring peace in the land, there are bad people who will always try to destroy efforts like this, but despite the incident, our celebration will continue,” he said.

No group claimed responsibility for the foiled attack, but Abu Sayyaf and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front are active in Basilan and have been implicated in the spate of terrorism and kidnappings on the province.

The Abu Sayyaf is still holding two aid workers, Esperancita Hupida and Millet Mendoza, they kidnapped Sept. 15 in Tipo-Tipo town. Hupida is the program director of the Nagdilaab Foundation, while Mendoza is a humanitarian worker. The gang demanded as much as P15 million ransoms for the victims’ safe release. (Mindanao Examiner)

3 Killed In Basilan Island Ambush

BASILAN ISLAND (Mindanao Examiner / 07 June) – Three people were killed in ambush Thursday in Lamitan town in Basilan island off the southern port city of Zamboanga, officials said.

Officials said the attack killed a father and his two sons near the village of Lumoton. The trio was traveling on a motorcycle when unidentified gunmen ambushed them.

“We have sent forces to help police track down the attackers,” Colonel Ramiro Alivio, commander of the Philippine Marines 1st Marine Brigade on the island.

He said troops put up roadblocks and more checkpoints in Basilan, a former stronghold of the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group.

Police is still investigating the motive of the attack. Investigators recovered dozens of empty shells of rifle bullets.

The victims were supporters of the local mayor Roderick Furigay.

It was unknown if the attack had anything to do with politics or clan war. Vengeance killing is common on the island between warring clans. (Mindanao Examiner)