ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Aug. 29, 2014) – Unidentified men seized a midwife in the southern Philippine province of Sulu and security forces were deployed to track down the woman, police said Friday.
Police said Leilani Bernabe was on her way to Luuk District Hospital when she was seized by a group of men in the village called Lihbug Kabaw near Panglima Estino town on Thursday morning. No other details were made available by the police, but security forces have been deployed to track down the woman.
No individual or group claimed responsibility for the abduction and it was unknown whether the Abu Sayyaf was involved in this or if ransom or forced marriage was likely motive for the abduction.
There was no immediate statement from the local town mayor about the incident.
The abduction occurred a day after Abu Sayyaf militants freed a kidnapped mechanic Ronald Pelegrin, 39, who works for the provincial government.
Pelegrin, a native of Zamboanga city, was kidnapped on August 16. Police said about 30 militants swooped down at a motor pool in Patikul town and kidnapped Pelegrin, but his assistant Dante Avilla, 29, was killed while trying to escape. It was unknown whether Pelegrin’s family paid ransom or not. (Mindanao Examiner)
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