ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Aug. 26, 2012) – One of two Chinese iron ore traders kidnapped in the southern Philippines was reportedly freed Sunday in Zamboanga City in exchange for P5 million following a secret negotiation, military intelligence said.
The report, passed on to the Mindanao Examiner, said Jian Luo, 48, was taken to Zamboanga City by his kidnappers, but security officials would not confirm or deny the report.
The ransom was paid at a parking area of a local hotel where the negotiations took place.
One army commander said they have monitored the release of Luo, but did not have any order from their headquarters to take the Chinese man into safe custody.
Luo and Jampong Lin-Yuankai, 38, were both were seized from their rented apartment in the town of Kabasalan in Zamboanga Sibugay province on June 4 and police linked a notorious bandit leader Wanning Abdusallam to the kidnappings.
There was no report about Luo’s compatriot, but the kidnappers originally demanded $5 million for their safe release.
The two men are natives of Guangdong province and are engaged in buying and selling of manganese and other minerals. They have been living in Kabasalan town since last year.
Abdusallam was also implicated in the kidnapping in December of Australian national Warren Rodwell in the seaside town of Ipil near Kabasalan and handed him over to the militant group Abu Sayyaf in Basilan province. (Mindanao Examiner. With a report from Ely Dumaboc)
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