Kidnapped boy recovered in Basilan province

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / August 2, 2009) – Military authorities on Sunday said a kidnapped five-year old boy was recovered in Basilan province in the southern Philippines.

Army First Lieutenant Steffani Cacho, a spokeswoman for the Western Mindanao Command, said the victim, Joven Aries dela Cruz was recovered on Saturday in the town of Mohammad Ajul.

The boy was seized July 28 by two motorcycle gunmen in front of his house in Lamitan City.

“The victim is presently under the custodial care of Mayor Pawaki. He will be brought to Lamitan for medical examination,” Cacho said.

Cacho was referring to the mayor of Mohammad Ajul, Talib Pawaki, who negotiated for the boy’s release. It was not immediately known if ransom was paid in exchange for the boy’s freedom.

“I don’t think ransom was paid,” Cacho said without further elaborating.

Details of the negotiations or how the boy, the son of a carpenter, was recovered were unclear. No individual or group claimed responsibility for the boy’s kidnapping, but previous incidents in the troubled province were largely blamed to Abu Sayyaf militants whose group has links with the Indonesian terrorist Jemaah Islamiya.

Last month, security forces also rescued two abducted fishermen - Ronnie Nabi and Renante Saquien - after a firefight with suspected Moro rebels in Basilan, just several nautical miles south of Zamboanga City.

The two were rescued in Akbar town after policemen, backed by soldiers stormed the village of Semut and clashed with the kidnappers. The fishermen were abducted off Basilan in March after gunmen attacked their trawler and killed three of its crew.

In January, Abu Sayyaf gunmen also intercepted a small boat carrying state teachers off Zamboanga City and seized the trio and brought them by boat to Basilan and freed in May after private negotiators allegedly paid huge ransoms for their liberty.

More than two dozen civilians, including a Sri Lankan peace worker, were kidnapped for ransom and eventually freed in Basilan since early this year. (Mindanao Examiner)

Cops Rescue 2 Kidnapped Basilan Officials

BASILAN, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / July 19, 2008) - Police commandos, backed by government troops, rescued 2 Filipino village officials seized by gunmen in the southern island of Basilan, officials said Saturday.

Officials said security forces clashed with two gunmen who were guarding Pilardo Tolentino and Jayson Constancia in the woods in the town of Mohammad Ajul late Friday. “The two hostages have been recovered safely and reunited with their families,” Senior Superintendent Salik Macapantar, the provincial police chief, told the Mindanao Examiner.

The two men, contracted by telecommunication giant Globe Telecom, were seized July 16 while on their way to inspect a cell site in the town’s Languyan village. The kidnappers had demanded P3 million for the release of the two men and threatened to execute them Friday midnight if the ransom was not paid.

“We tracked down the kidnappers before they could do harm to the hostages. There was a firefight and we rescued the victims,” Macapantar said.

He said the gunmen were able to escape under cover of darkness. There were no reports of casualties on injuries on the side of the raiders.

Macapantar tagged Ikram Saham as the leader of the gang that kidnapped the two village officials. “The kidnappers are plain criminals wanting to get ransom,” he said.

Authorities previously blamed the militant group Abu Sayyaf in the kidnapping.

Last week, suspected Abu Sayyaf militants and rogue members of the larger Moro Islamic Liberation Front kidnapped and freed four workers of the Basilan Electric Cooperative, Inc. after two weeks in captivity in exchange for a huge ransom.

The freed hostages - brothers Alberto and Emilberto Singson; Paul Herowig and his brother Birin - were released to emissaries of Basilan deputy governor Alrashid Sakalahul.

It was not immediately known whether the ransom paid for the release of the four hostages had influenced criminals to kidnap the village officials.

Basilan Governor Jum Akbar could not be reached for comment on the spate of kidnappings in the island, but reports said the politician had always been out of the province and spent most of her time in Manila.

Akbar is one of four widows of Basilan Rep. Wahab Akbar, who was killed in a bomb attack last year at the Philippine Congress in Manila. Another widow, Cherry Lyn Akbar, is the mayor of Basilan’s Isabela City. (Mindanao Examiner)

Police Mount Operations To Rescue 2 Kidnapped Basilan Village Officials

BASILAN, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / July 17, 2008) – Police have mounted an operation to search and rescue two Filipino village officials seized by gunmen in the southern island of Basilan, officials said.

Officials said police commandos were sent to the town of Mohammad Ajul to track down gunmen holding Felardo Tolentino and Jayson Constancio. The two men were seized Wednesday while on their way to inspect a cell site owned by telecommunication giant Globe Telecom in nearby Tuburan town.

“Our forces are tracking down the gunmen and their victims,” Senior Superintendent Salik Macapantar, the provincial police chief, told the Mindanao Examiner.

Intelligence reports said the gunmen were believed to be members of the Abu Sayyaf group tied to al-Qaeda terror network and have demanded P 3 million for the safe release of the two men contracted by Globe Telecom to maintain the cell tower. "We suspect the Abu Sayyaf as behind this latest kidnapping," Macapantar said without further elaborating.

Last week, suspected Abu Sayyaf militants and rogue members of the larger Moro Islamic Liberation Front freed four kidnapped workers of the Basilan Electric Cooperative, Inc. after two weeks in captivity in exchange for a huge ransom.

The freed hostages - brothers Alberto and Emilberto Singson; Paul Herowig and his brother Birin – were released to emissaries of Basilan deputy governor Alrashid Sakalahul.

Basilan Governor Jum Akbar could not be reached for comment on the latest kidnapping, but reports said the politician had always been out of the province and spent most of her time in Manila.

Akbar is one of four widows of Basilan Rep. Wahab Akbar, who was killed in a bomb attack last year at the Philippine Congress in Manila. Another widow, Cherry Lyn Akbar, is the mayor of Basilan’s Isabela City.

Philippine military chief Alexander Yano said the Abu Sayyaf, which was originally fighting for the establishment of a strict Muslim state in Mindanao, had been reduced to being a bandit group. But the United States tagged the Abu Sayyaf group as a foreign terrorist organization with links to the al-Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiya. (Mindanao Examiner)