12 people briefly taken hostage in Lanao Sur

PAGADIAN CITY – Gunmen have briefly held hostage a dozen people on Friday in Lanao del Sur province in the restive Muslim autonomous region in southern Philippines, officials said.

Officials said the gunmen, led by Hadji Esmail, first abducted a 60-year school supervisor Intan Rohaida Cornell Maunte, in the village of Linuk in Marantao town after storming her house.

Esmail was searching for the Maunte’s son, Jose, but seized the woman instead after failing to find their target.

The group, composed of about 30 heavily-armed men, fled with their captive to nearby Piagapo town, where they took 11 more members of the Maunte clan, including the woman’s daughter, Salma Maunte, and used them as shield against pursuing policemen.

Officials said Esmail eventually freed all hostages after local politicians negotiated for the safe release of the captives – Azis Cornell, Saljana Maunte, Harico Maunte, Bebikil Maunte, Bonsokoy Maunte, Laine Maunte, Jose’s wife; Albap Maunte, Alkap Maunte, Asma Maunte and Al-al Maunte.

Officials said the mass abduction stemmed from a syndicated estafa reportedly perpetrated by Jacob Rasuman, who allegedly collected some P1.2 billion from his victims in Lanao del Sur. Rasuman was said to have employed several people to lure their victims on his Ponzi scheme.

Esmail was allegedly demanding payments from the victims. It was not immediately known if the victims were involved or implicated in the scam. Troops from the 51st Infantry Battalion deployed in the province were alerted to monitor the situation in the area.

Last year, armed civilians also seized relatives of Rasuman and even the families of those who worked for him to force them to pay back their investments. Rasuman, who was arrested in November 2012, also invested some of his collections to a company called Aman Futures run by Malaysian businessman Manuel Amalilio, who offered as much as 50% interest in as little as two weeks.

Amalilio turned out also a swindler, who collected over P12 billion from many people in southern Philippines. He fled to Malaysia where he was arrested in January 2013 on immigration charges. (Mindanao Examiner)