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Monday, November 28, 2005
Trader's kidnappers demand P10M
ARMED men who abducted a wealthy businessman in North Cotabato last week have demanded P10 million for his release, a military official said Friday.
Colonel Ruperto Pabustan, chief of the Army's 602nd Infantry Battalion, said members of the Pentagon Gang have allegedly contacted the family of Bravit Araral Wednesday morning to demand for a P10 million ransom.
"I learned this information from our intelligence operatives," said Pabustan.
He identified the kidnap gang leader as Mayangkang Saguile.
But Eid Kabalu, spokesperson of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), said the kidnappers reduced their demand to only three million pesos.
The MILF, which have a green light from the government to go after criminals in Mindanao, have deployed spies to help the government recover Araral from his captors.
Kabalu, however, declined to confirm reports the kidnap gang was headed by Saguile.
The rebel spokesperson said they are considering several angles in the abduction of Araral.
Kabalu claimed the victim was a contractor of a water system project in Parang, Maguindanao, which was not completed due to limited resources.
About 10 armed men snatched Araral in Barangay Baguer, Libungan, North Cotabato last November 21.
His Nissan Pathfinder was later found abandoned in Datu Piang, Maguindanao.
Brigadier General Ben Dolorfino of the Philippine Marines and chief of a government panel working with the Moro rebels in flushing out criminals in Mindanao, said the suspects could be hiding Araral in Kabuntalan, also in Maguindanao.
The Pentagon gang is said to be founded by Alonto Tahir, a former MILF field commander who surrendered to the government.
He was charged and arrested for the kidnapping of two Digos residents.
But Tahir escaped from the General Santos City Rehabilitation Center in November 2000.
Tahir has repeatedly denied any involvement in the Pentagon. (RBS)
(November 28, 2005 issue)
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