By Rene Acosta
Members of the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) have reportedly kidnapped 10 Indonesian crew members of a Taiwanese tugboat in the waters off Tawi-Tawi.
Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla Jr., spokesman of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), however, said the military, particularly the Western Mindanao Command (Wesmincom), is still validating the report.
“The AFP through the Wesmincom has received initial information on the missing crewmen of a certain foreign-owned vessel in the Zambasulta [Zamboanga, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi] area,” Padilla said.
“We could not yet confirm this information as we are still in the process of validating it. We shall issue a statement once there is certainty that the said incident actually occurred,” he added.
Report said the Taiwanese tugboat was en route to Manila from Jakarta, Indonesia, when it was allegedly intercepted by suspected Abu Sayyaf terrorists off Tawi-Tawi.
It was not clear when the actual kidnapping happened. The report added one of the Indonesian crewmen managed to call their Taiwanese employers to report the kidnapping. The crew reportedly tagged the terrorist ASG as their captors.
The captors had reportedly conveyed their demand for an unspecified amount of ransom.
A report from the Police Regional Office-Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (PRO-ARMM) said an abandoned vessel with markings “Brahma 12” was found in Languyan Island on Monday morning.
The PRO-ARMM reported that elements of Languyan municipal police station, led by Police Officer 1 Arsenio Allama, were dispatched to check on the reported sighting of a drifting vessel along the vicinity of Barangay Tubid Dakula.
The responding policemen managed to board the boat and found no one aboard. They also found floating devices with markings “Jakarta YDB 4731.”
The boat was subsequently brought to shore and anchored at Languyan Wharf for safekeeping and further investigation.
On the other hand, Wesmincom Spokesman Maj. Filemon Tan Jr. said military units in Zambasulta areas were already alerted about the reported abduction.
“All our forces are on alert, ready to assist if necessary and help ascertain the incident,” he said.