|
ABU
Sayyaf bandits who abducted members of a local aid group
in Basilan early this week are still in the province and
are moving on foot with their last two remaining
captives who are women.
Lt. Col.
Edgard Arevalo, Navy spokesman, said the bandits, who
were believed to be headed by Nurhassan Jamiri and
Puruji Indama, are constantly moving around to possibly
avoid pursuing troops.
Military
authorities fear the bandits are using the two captives,
Esperancita Hupida and Merlie “Millet” Mendoza, both of
the Nagdilaab Foundation, a group involved in
humanitarian works in Mindanao, as human shields.
Arevalo
said the Marines called off search-and-rescue operations
to allow the six-man crisis committee to work for the
safe release of the women.
The
committee, which was formed on Tuesday, is headed by Fr.
Angel Calvo, president of the foundation.
Calvo
said that so far, the kidnappers have not sent a ransom
demand.
Hupida
and Mendoza are among the passengers of a van and pickup
truck that were flagged down by about 20 Abu Sayyaf
bandits at sitio Limbo Pas, Tipo-Tipo, Basilan, at about
11 a.m. on Monday.
Military
authorities said the kidnappers later decided to leave
behind their other captives, including Ludivina Dekit,
Romeo de los Reyes and Jun Estandarte, after learning
that they could not get anything from them.
“They
were released because they are either financially hard
up or unhealthy, which makes them a burden to the
bandits, who are being pursued by the Marines,” Arevalo
said.
Others
reports said the three hostages escaped on Monday night
as the kidnappers moved around to evade pursuit
operations by the police, local officials and Marines.
The
other passengers reportedly escaped just as the
kidnappers stopped their vehicles.
Arevalo
said the personal belongings of Hupida and Mendoza may
have given them away to the kidnappers.
“Credit
and identification cards found among personal belongings
and valuables like money, cellular telephones and pieces
of jewelry that the Abu Sayyaf members divested from the
kidnap victims made them decide who to let go and who to
keep,” he said.
“The
identities and group affiliations of Esperancita Hupida
and Millet Mendoza revealed by their identification
cards and documents found in their possession led their
abductors to detain them to command a better bargain,”
Arevalo added.
Earlier,
the First Marine Brigade commander, Col. Rustico
Guerrero, said that Dekit, de los Reyes and Estandarte
were rescued by the troops from the Marine Battalion
Landing Team 10 led by Lt. Col. Ramon Mabalot.
Guerrero
said intense pressure from the pursuing Marines forced
the kidnappers to abandon the three shortly after 11
p.m. on Monday in a remote place in Al-Barka town.
Guerrero
said the abandoned hostages were located through the
effort of Tipo-Tipo Mayor Tong Istarul, who sent out his
men to gather information to locate the victims. (With
B. Garcia Jr.) |
