Abductors free Filipino businessman, daughter (12:04 p.m.)
ZAMBOANGA, Philippines — Gunmen released a businessman and his 10-year-old daughter from a four-day captivity in the southern Philippines after their family reportedly paid a ransom, officials said Monday.
Officials suspected Muslim rebels were behind last week’s abductions of William Tan and his daughter in Cotabato city in the country’s volatile south, where ransom kidnappings have resurfaced this year with about 10 other people held.
Tan and the girl, whose family owns a chain of businesses including a hotel and a commercial store, were handed over to Tan’s father-in-law in a village near Cotabato on Sunday evening, said army spokesman Lt. Col. Jonathan Ponce.
Cotabato Mayor Muslimin Sema said the youngster appeared in good health and was even joking that she was suntanned and her captivity “was just like I went to the beach for a vacation.” (AP)
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