ZAMBOANGA CITY – Suspected Abu Sayyaf militants have threated to behead a young Filipino man they kidnapped in the southern province of Sulu if their ransom demand is not paid.
The militants are demanding P1 million in exchange for the life of Patrick James Almodovar, who is in his early 20s, or they will kill him on August 24.
In a video clip released by the Abu Sayyaf, Almodovar, appealed to the government to save his life and pay the ransom. Speaking in the Tausug dialect, he begged Governor Totoh Tan and Jolo Mayor Kerkar Tan, to pay the Abu Sayyaf despite a strict no-ransom policy of the government.
“I am Patrick James Almodovar. I am a Catholic. To Governor Totoh Tan and Mayor Kerkar Tan and to my relatives, I am appealing for your help to free me from my captors and they are asking one million pesos and if they don’t get what they are demanding, they will behead me exactly at 2 in the afternoon,” Almodovar said in the 2-minute clip.
There were no immediate statement from the police and military and Almodovar’s kidnapping was unreported.
On Tuesday, suspected Abu Sayyaf gunmen also abducted a public school teacher Edrina Manalas Bonsil while one her way to work in the town of Patikul also in Sulu, one of 5 provinces under the Muslim autonomous region in Mindanao.
Bonsil was travelling on a jeep when 5 gunmen flagged down the vehicle in Kanague village and forcibly dragged her out and taken by the gang. There was no immediate statement from the Department of Education in the autonomous region, but the military said the operation against the Abu Sayyaf is continuing in Sulu.
Just last month, Abu Sayyaf militants also seized 3 people Shariff Julhasan Abirin, Levi Gonzales and his pregnant wife Daniela Taruc on a village in Patikul town. The victims were onboard a multi-cab when gunmen flagged down the vehicle on the village of Timpook and seized them.
The gunmen threatened to behead Gonzales – who works as a technician for Globe Telecom – if their demand for P1 million ransom is not paid by the company. His wife was only accompanying him when gunmen seized them. There was no statement from the telecom giant, but it is unlikely to pay ransom to the Abu Sayyaf for Gonzales’ life.
President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered troops last week to intensify their anti-terrorism campaign, including operations against the Abu Sayyaf which is still holding more than a dozen mostly Asian hostages in the restive Muslim region. (With a report from Ely Dumaboc)
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