PAGADIAN CITY – Gunmen kidnapped 6 people, including an infant, from a farm in Sirawai town in the southern Philippine province of Zamboanga del Norte, police said Sunday.
Police said a group of bandits headed by Jamilon Tukalan was likely behind the kidnapping which occurred June 28 in San Nicolas village. The kidnappers demanded P400,000 for the safe release of the hostages.
The victims have been identified as Feliciano Javier, 28; his wife Elsa, 28, and their five-month old baby Vincent; and Junior Javier, 22, and wife Rica, also 22-years old and their five-year old son Val. All are keepers of farm owned by Valiente Tolo Felizarta, the town’s municipal engineer.
The town’s deputy mayor, Jaime Felizarta, has told police investigators that a man, who identified himself as “Abu”, is holding all the hostages and demanded the ransoms.
Authorities also invited Tukalan’s sister, who is a local resident, to help in negotiating for the freedom of the two farming families.
Security forces were dispatched to track down the kidnappers and rescue the hostages even while the negotiations are going based on the recommendation of the local crisis management committee headed by the mayor.
Tukalan’s group is behind the series of robberies, cattle rustling and ransom kidnappings and murders in the Zamboanga Peninsula. (Mindanao Examiner)
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