ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Apr. 25, 2014) – Police forces arrested suspected kidnappers in separate operations in Zamboanga City and Zamboanga del Sur province in southern Philippines, officials announced on Friday.
Insp. Dahlan Samuddin, a regional police spokesman, said members of the Zamboanga City Public Safety Company and the Intelligence Section of Zamboanga City Police Office arrested Jamal Gonzales before he can flee to the town of Jolo in Sulu province.
He said Gonzales, a native of Pandami town in Sulu, was about to board the boat when policemen pounced on him at the pier. He said Gonzales is facing at least cases of kidnappings for ransom at the Regional Trial Court National Capital Judicial Region Branch 162 in Pasig City.
Samuddin did not say if Gonzales is a member of the Abu Sayyaf, blamed for the spate of terrorism and ransom kidnappings in the region.
He said another kidnapper, Tingaraan Pamosogan, was also arrested in Zamboanga del Sur’s Tukuran town after police forces tracked down his hideout in the village Santo Niño.
Police linked him to several kidnapping cases filed at the Branch 21 of the Regional Trial Court in Kapatagan town in Lanao Del Norte province.
“The accused was brought to Tukuran Police Station and was later turned- over to the Regional Intelligence Unit 10 based at Camp Alagar in Cagayan De Oro City for proper disposition,” Samuddin said.
It was not immediately known if Pamosogan is a member or any rebel group, but their arrest came a day after local authorities captured an Abu Sayyaf rebel, who uses the alias of Abu Darren, in Zamboanga City where he was allegedly plotting to bomb civilian targets.
Darren was arrested after police and military commandos swooped down on the seaside village of Baliwasan. He was also tagged as involved in the ransom kidnappings of 21 mostly European holidaymakers from the posh Malaysian resort of Pulau Sipadan in 2000 and he is also being linked by the police to a foiled kidnapping at a posh pearl farm resort in Davao that left two people dead in 2001.
The Abu Sayyaf, which means “bearer of the sword,” has been linked by Philippine an US authorities to Al-Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiya and was also tagged as behind the spate of terrorism and ransom kidnappings over the last two decades. The group is still holding several foreigners and Filipinos in captivity in the troubled region. (Mindanao Examiner)
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