ILIGAN CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Nov. 28, 2011) – A Filipino who acted as guide to three Korean men kidnapped in the southern Philippines was found dead on a remote village in Lanao del Norte province, officials said Monday.
Officials said security forces sent to track down the kidnappers recovered the decomposing remains of Junie Ongue on Sunday in the village of Dagayonan in Madamba town.
It was not immediately known why Ongue was killed by the kidnappers, but Army Colonel Daniel Lucero, commander of the 103rd Infantry Brigade, said the Filipino man was murdered even before the release of the foreigners.
He said Ongue acted as guide to Choi In-So, Wu Seok-bung and Kim Nam-du when they were kidnapped on October 21 while scouting for mining opportunities in Lanao del Sur province.
Lucero tagged a notorious leader of illegal loggers, Anwar Bilao, as behind the kidnappings. “There are military and police efforts to track down the kidnappers ands bring them to justice,” he told the Mindanao Examiner.
Choi was freed on November 24 in the village of Calimudan in Salvador town in Lanao del Norte. His two compatriots were released two days later in the same village. The kidnappers had demanded P50 million ransoms, but authorities said no money was paid for the release of the hostages.
The Korean embassy in Manila did not release any statement about the freed hostages. (Mindanao Examiner)
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