ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Apr. 3, 2014) – Abu Sayyaf rebels have freed a kidnapped school principal on Thursday afternoon in the restive province of Basilan in the Muslim autonomous region in Mindanao.
The 60-year old Benita Latonio was released safely in Sumisip town where she had been kidnapped at gunpoint by five masked men on March 31. Details of her release were unclear, but kidnappers had earlier demanded huge ransom in exchange for her freedom.
The rebels seized Latonio after stopping a passenger jeep at Sitio Mompol in the village of Libug in Sumisip town. The jeep was travelling for Isabela City with other passengers when gunmen flagged down the vehicle and grabbed Latonio, who teaches as the Manggal Elementary School.
No individual or group claimed responsibility for the kidnapping, but intelligence reports pointed to Abu Sayyaf leader Juhaibel Alamsirul as behind it.
The motive of the abduction is still unknown, but police and military have tagged the Abu Sayyaf in many cases of ransom kidnappings. The group has been raising money through kidnappings for the purchase of weapons and to fund future terror attacks.
Authorities have repeatedly linked the Abu Sayyaf to al-Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiya which had been blamed in deadly attacks not only in the Philippines, but also in Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia in an effort to establish a regional Islamic caliphate in Southeast Asia. (With a report from Ely Dumaboc)
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