ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Dec. 24, 2014) – Abu Sayyaf rebels have freed a businesswoman on Christmas Eve after four months in captivity in the southern Philippines.
Michelle Panes, who was kidnapped in Zamboanga City in August, has been released in Sulu’s Talipao town at around 9 a.m. after her family reportedly paid a still undetermined amount of ransom.
Panes was recovered by civilians wandering in the village and handed her over to local officials who contacted the military and informed them about the safe release of the woman.
She was brought to a military base in the capital town of Jolo where she underwent a routine medical check up before being transported by a helicopter to the Western Mindanao Command in Zamboanga City where her anxious family was waiting.
The military did not release any statement about the release of the woman, but media reports quoted top brass as saying that the continued operation against the Abu Sayyaf may have contributed to the release of Panes.
Panes was kidnapped by at least 9 gunmen – some of them clad in military uniform – who barged inside the family store at the market area in the coastal village of Labuan.
Her husband, Noel Panes, was nearly taken by the kidnappers as the gang dragged her wife to a waiting speedboat. (Mindanao Examiner – Ely Dumaboc)
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