ZAMBOANGA CITY – Abu Sayyaf rebels have threatened to behead a Malaysian national if ransom for his safe release is not paid by his family, who sought help from Kuala Lumpur to save the hostage now being held in southern Philippines.
Chan Wai See, the wife of kidnap victim Bernard Then Ted Fen, said she spoke with the rebels and her husband on the phone on August 22 and told the Home Ministry about it, according to a report by the Malaysian Insider.
The 39-year old Bernard was kidnapped along with Thien Nyuk Fun, 50, by four gunmen who stormed Ocean King Seafood Restaurant in Sandakan on May 14. Thien is the restaurant’s manager.
Chan and Thien’s daughter, Chung Chin Lung, met with Deputy Home Minister I Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed and Deputy Home Minister II Masir Anak Kujat to allay their concerns over the victims.
Both officials have assured Chien and Chung that they will do all they can to bring the Malaysians back home safely. The hostages were believed being held in Sulu Archipelago and Sabah is just near the Filipino province of Tawi-Tawi. It was not immediately known how much ransom the Abu Sayyaf is demanding.
The report said Bernard was apparently very weak and told his wife that he would be beheaded next after the Abu Sayyaf beheaded a kidnapped Filipino village official, Rodolfo Boligao, recently.
It added that Thien was also very weak and the situation had been made worse because they were forced to move around as militants wanted to avoid detection.
The two Malaysian officials said they were closely working with Philippine authorities to determine the location of the two hostages.
In Zamboanga City, Marine Captain Maria Rowena Muyuela, a spokeswoman for the Western Mindanao Command, said law enforcement operations against the Abu Sayyaf still continue following the recent rescue of two kidnapped Coast Guard members – Gringo Villaruz and Rodlyn Pagaling – in the village of Buanza in Sulu’s Indanan town.
At least 15 rebels were killed in that operations which also left injured 7 soldiers.
“We have not received any reports of Abu Sayyafs threatening to kill their Malaysian hostage, but what I can tell is that our law enforcement operations are continuing in Sulu against the Abu Sayyaf,” she told the regional newspaper Mindanao Examiner by phone from her headquarters.
Muyuela did not say what areas in Sulu the soldiers were operating, but the Abu Sayyaf is active in the towns of Patikul, Talipao and Indanan.
The threat to kill the hostage coincided with the start of the 5-day joint Philippines-Malaysia naval training exercises in Zamboanga City that involved several ships and aircrafts from both countries. (Mindanao Examiner)
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