Monday, May 15, 2006
Muslim rebels rescue kidnapped Basilan girl
By Al Jacinto
ZAMBOANGA CITY -- Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels negotiating peace with Manila rescued a nine-year-old girl kidnapped by Abu Sayyaf bandits in the southern Philippine island of Basilan, officials said.
Officials said rebel forces captured two men holding Donna May Ramos and rescued the girl Saturday evening in the hinterland village of Limbo Upas in Tipo-Tipo town, a known stronghold of the MILF. They said the rebels were working closely with authorities.
The fate of the two men was unknown, but the rebels handed the girl to authorities. "The girl is rescued all right and there is good coordination between security and rebel forces," said Brigadier General Raymundo Ferrer, the island's military commander.
He said politicians headed by former Tuburan town mayor Hajarun Jamiri and Lamitan Town Mayor Roderick Furigay and the island's police chief Clifford Gairanod helped in the rescue.
"It was actually a coordinated effort among us and the MILF's ad hoc joint action group and everybody worked hard to recover the girl from the hands of the Abu Sayyaf," Ferrer said.
He said the rebels, headed by Bonie Salih, seized the kidnappers when they tried to hide their hostage in Tipo-Tipo town. "Unknown to the kidnappers, military and police authorities and MILF forces were already working closely to recover the girl safely, and we did," Ferrer said.
Authorities said the girl, daughter of councilor Donnel Ramos of Lamitan town, was kidnapped May 10 by two men, identified as Jaid Awalal and Jaljani Isnilon, while she played with a friend in Lamitan town. Her family opened private negotiations to seek the girl's freedom without paying ransom.
The victim's father told authorities they would not file criminal charges against the kidnappers. "We asked Donnel if he would file charges against the kidnappers, and he said no and they only wanted to see the girl freed safely," Furigay said.
A faction of the Abu Sayyaf group is still holding kidnapped pharmacy owner Bren Vergarra, 41, in Jolo island. His 70-year-old mother, Caridad, who was also kidnapped April 12, was freed two weeks later. The Abu Sayyaf originally demanded two million pesos ransom in exchange for the safe release of the victim.
The Abu Sayyaf group is included in the US foreign terror list and Washington offered as much as $10 million bounty for the capture of its leader Khadaffy Janjalani, who masterminded the 2001 kidnapping of three American citizens in Palawan island in central Philippines and later killed two of them. (Sun.Star Zamboanga/Sunnex)
(May 15, 2006 issue)
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