ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Oct. 16, 2013) – Police forces have recovered before dawn Wednesday two of four people seized by gunmen in the southern Philippine province of Sulu, officials said.
Senior Superintendent Abraham Orbita, police chief of Sulu province, said the victims – Bernal Joe and Absuwal Sasapan – were recovered by policemen in Tagbak village in Indanan town. The remaining hostages – Dr Salladin Teo and Wilfred Ngo – are still being held captive.
He said the four men were seized in Siasi, an island-town off Sulu province late Tuesday and since then police forces were tracking down the gunmen until Joe and Sasapan were recovered in Indanan town.
“Two of the victims – Bernal Joe and Absuwal Sasapan – have been recovered by combined elements of the Siasi municipal and provincial police forces. We are still searching for the remaining captives. The victims were all seized from Dr Teo’s house in Siasi and the gunmen dragged them to a waiting speedboat and escaped. There was a pursuit operation shortly after the abduction and one report claimed the victims landed in (the village of) Luuk Tulay in Pata town where our forces are now deployed,” Orbita told the regional newspaper Mindanao Examiner.
He said the two freed men were immediately brought to hospital for medical examination and later to the police headquarters in Jolo town for debriefing. “The motive of the abduction is still unknown,” he said.
No group claimed responsibility for the abductions, but Abu Sayyaf rebels have been largely blamed for many ransom kidnappings in the province. (Mindanao Examiner)
20