Friday, April 14, 2006
Mother, son kidnapped in island of Jolo
By Al Jacinto
ZAMBOANGA CITY -- Unidentified gunmen seized Wednesday a 70-year-old matriarch and her son in the island of Jolo in the southern Philippines, officials said.
Officials said security forces were searching for Caridad Vergara and his 41-year-old son Bren, who were abducted around 6.30 a.m. in Kakuyagan village in downtown Jolo.
The duo were on their way to open the family pharmacy when gunmen seized them, said Brigadier General Alexander Aleo, commander of military forces on the troubled island, about 950 kilometers south of Manila.
"The military's Jolo Internal Defense Command is closely working with the police. Security forces are searching for the hostages and their abductors," Aleo said.
No groups claimed responsibility for the latest abduction and the victim's family said it had not received any demand for ransom from the armed men.
"The police are still investigating this incident and we don't know who were behind of the motive of the abduction, it could be ransom, we really don't know yet," Aleo said.
On Friday last week, armed men also abducted a Filipino-Chinese trader and his companion in Wao town in Lanao del Sur province in Mindanao, northeast of Jolo, police said.
Superintendent Akmad Mamalinta, Muslim autonomous region police chief, said the victims Michael Dy and his cashier, Evelyn dela Cruz, were on a van with two others when seven gunmen flagged down their vehicle and abducted the duo at gunpoint.
He said Dy's driver and another employee were hogtied and left inside the van, but later escaped and sought help from the police. Dy, a businessman from Valencia City in Bukidnon province, was visiting Lanao del Sur when abducted.
Both Jolo and Lanao del Sur belong to the Muslim autonomous region, one of the poorest in the Philippines. The rebel group, Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which is negotiating peace with Manila, said it was helping authorities track down the victims. (Sun.Star Zamboanga/Sunnex)
(April 14, 2006 issue)
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